As China floods U.S. market with illegal vapes, the International Trade

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This week, a little-known trade-focused agency is poised to enact an effective ban on American-owned vapes, which Republicans warn could be a gift to the Chinese illicit vapes flooding the U.S. market.

The U.S. International Trade Commission deals with patent disputes between companies and can restrict products as a remedy for patent infringement claims. The Commission currently is controlled by appointees from Democratic Presidents with a 3-1 advantage, giving the Commission the chance to advance priorities of the Biden-Harris Administration in its final days.

Juul, the vape manufacturer, filed a case against NJOY, an FDA-authorized vape, over a patent claim with a request to halt sales of NJOYs vapes as a remedy for the alleged violation. Trade experts say that while these matters are typically litigated between the parties and addressed with financial compensation, a full block of sales—called an “exclusion order”–is rarely used by the Commission.

However, Congressional Republicans say that the Democratic-controlled Commission is poised to enact an exclusion order to the sale of NJOY’s popular vaping projects in the U.S., which would lead to a massive disruption in the market and open the door for increased usage of illegal Chinese vapes, something that has alarmed Congress and national security experts.

Representative James Comer, Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, raised, the alarm of Chinese vapes flooding the U.S. market by pointing out “American store shelves are overflowing with products from China.” Comer has been echoed by Senator Ted Budd who hammered the FDA for failing to crack down on Chinese vapes. “The FDA has an obligation to vigorously enforce restrictions against marketing of unauthorized tobacco and non-tobacco nicotine products,” Budd said.

Even Democrats have expressed concern about the proliferation of Chinese vapes in the market—a problem that is set to be turbocharged if the legal, American alternative is excluded from the market. “Why are we not making faster progress on the incredible number of unapproved vaping products on the black market?” Senator Martin Henrich asked while Senator Chuck Schumer warned, “We are already seeing these damaging and highly addictive new form of e-cigs target our teens and kids and go from store shelves to schools across Central NY.”

A source close to President Trump’s transition team suggested that politics was behind the ITC’s ruling, saying “this is not a coincidence that on their way out the door, the Biden bureaucrats are trying to do through some obscure trade agency what they couldn’t get passed in Congress: ban vaping. It’s just like their attempts to ban Zyn or gas stove. Horrible policies that we can soon reverse.”

Hudson Institute’s Jeremy Hunt agreed with the concerns about the Chinese products, saying, “The ITC’s move to possibly block the only FDA-approved U.S. vape could lead to dangerous repercussions, opening the door for more unapproved, risky Chinese vapes to dominate the market, endangering our communities.”