Reuters Has Revealed The Details Of The Violations. Chinese E-cigarette Brands Urgently Need To Uphold The Bottom Line.

I. Reuters Discloses the Pathways and Operational Details of Illegal E-cigarettes Entering the United States
In June 2025, Reuters released an investigative report revealing that a large number of unapproved Chinese e-cigarette products entered the US market through covert channels without authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The report stated that a small customs clearance company based in Chicago, operated by Jay Kim, assisted in importing millions of counterfeit Chinese e-cigarettes in 2024. These products were disguised as ordinary items such as toys and shoes during the customs clearance process to evade regulatory scrutiny.
Reuters compared FDA import data with US customs data and found that China's exports of e-cigarettes to the US amounted to 3.6 billion US dollars in 2024, while the actual registered import amount by the US was only 333 million US dollars, a difference of 90%, indicating that a large number of products had entered the market without going through the formal customs clearance process. Additionally, some receiving companies had registered addresses in residential areas in the US, lacking actual business indications, and there was "shell company" operation.
In response to these circumstances, the FDA and the Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP) in the US have jointly launched law enforcement actions. In May 2025, 34 million US dollars worth of illegal e-cigarettes were seized in Chicago, and the CBP issued law enforcement letters to 24 middlemen, warning them that any false declaration would result in criminal liability. It is expected that in the next step, regulatory authorities may expand the investigation scope to include importers, customs clearance agents, and upstream manufacturers, gradually tracing back the responsibility to the product source.
It is expected that in the future, many US companies with the same customs header as Jay Kim will be subject to strict random checks, and the original customs headers may become invalid. This will have a significant impact on the export of Chinese e-cigarettes to the US. Moreover, it is unknown whether the regulatory authorities will further investigate the shareholders, executives, and affiliated enterprises of these header companies. It is necessary to maintain high vigilance and make adequate preparations for possible responses.

II. Guarding the Red Line for Protecting Teenagers and Enhancing the International Trust of Chinese Brands
In the current context of increasingly strict global e-cigarette regulations, if Chinese e-cigarette companies hope to gain long-term trust and development in the international market, they must at least adhere to the most basic compliance bottom line - never attracting minors in any way.
The World Health Organization pointed out that e-cigarettes can cause nicotine addiction in teenagers, increase the risk of long-term lung, cardiovascular, and brain damage, and significantly increase the probability of teenagers smoking in the future. Marketing targeting teenagers is precisely the focus of many regulatory agencies in countries such as the United States, and is also one of the reasons why Chinese products frequently face doubts in the international market. Therefore, Chinese e-cigarette companies should actively abandon marketing methods such as fruit flavors and cartoon packaging that may attract teenagers, and clearly mark the applicable age when promoting on social platforms, and completely eliminate high-risk marketing strategies.
At the same time, significant investment should be made in technology to focus on developing intelligent verification mechanisms such as age identification, age verification, and identity binding. Through technological means, it is possible to effectively block minors from accessing the products. Guarding this red line is not only a response to regulations but also a responsibility to protect the healthy growth of teenagers, and is a basic credit commitment for China's manufacturing to achieve high-quality overseas expansion.