Illicit Chinese e-cigarettes that flowed into the country under the Biden administration are being ingested by Americans, raising concern among “Make America Healthy Again” Republicans who exclusively spoke to Breitbart News about the crisis.
Due to health concerns, China banned flavored vapes domestically in 2022, but the ban did not apply to products exported to other countries, the Guardian reported. China Electronics Chamber of Commerce data shows the industry’s export revenue topped $130 billion yuan in 2021, up 180 percent year-on-year.
Seven out of the then most popular e-vapor brands with youth are illegal flavored disposable brands, the latest 2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) found. Some of these brands include Elf Bar, Mr. Fog, and Esco Bars, the CDC found in 2024.
President Donald Trump predicted that illicit Chinese flavored vapes, and the potential “poison” in their ingredients, could find their way into the country and cause significant harm to Americans. “It’s a big problem,” he said in 2019 before he left office:
“Joe Biden messed it up. China is flooding the United States with illicit drugs and vapes that are poisoning our citizens,” a person close to the Trump administration told Breitbart News exclusively. “Trump was right to predict this would happen in 2019. Trump can fix this by shutting down the illicit Chinese market now.”
Illicit Chinese e-cigarettes are purposely mislabeled to avoid tariffs and inspection by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and it is widely reported that Chinese e-cigarette manufacturers mislabel products to avoid or reduce U.S. tariffs. “Records show the makers of disposable vapes routinely mislabel their shipments as ‘battery chargers,’ ‘flashlights’ and other items, hampering efforts to block products that are driving teen vaping in the U.S,” the Associated Press reported in 2023.
Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Brilyn Hollyhand, the Republican National Committee’s Youth Advisory Council chair, said, “One of the greatest threats to Gen Z that Biden allowed to flood our country is the rise and popularization of vapes and e-cigarettes!” he exclusively told Breitbart News.
“The blood is on Biden’s hands,” he added, noting Biden’s lack of border security is enabling the enrichment of Chinese Communist Party. Chinese State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA), which heavily regulates and profits from e-vapor manufacturing, is a major funder of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), according to the Pulitzer Center.
“The CCP is attacking our youth by handing these deadly flavored treats out like they’re candy, instead they are weapons of mass destruction and we’ve set to see the true toll they’ve had on the health of my generation,” said Hollyhand. “Trump must put an immediate stop to this poison of America’s youth and kick the CCP’s illicit market out of our country.”
Shengwei Zhang, a Chinese billionaire, owns many of the companies behind many of the leading vape brands, including Elf Bar and Lost Mary, the Times of London reported in 2023. The FDA reported that products such as Elf Bar are illegal.
“The tycoon dominating [the] latest wave [of e-cigarette] is Zhang Shengwei, 50, a veteran of China’s vape industry in the southern manufacturing hub of Shenzhen,” Reuters reported:
The tycoon dominating [the] latest wave [of e-cigarette] is Zhang Shengwei, 50, a veteran of China’s vape industry in the southern manufacturing hub of Shenzhen. … Zhang has navigated shifting regulations in countries cracking down on candy-flavored vapes, which many health advocates say are designed to hook teenagers. In the United States, the firm simply ignored regulations on new products and capitalized on poor enforcement. It has flooded the U.S. market with flavored vapes that have been among the best-selling U.S. brands, including Elf Bar, EBDesign and Lost Mary.
“Zhang has navigated shifting regulations in countries cracking down on candy-flavored vapes, which many health advocates say are designed to hook teenagers,” Reuters continued. “In the United States, the firm simply ignored regulations on new products and capitalized on poor enforcement. It has flooded the U.S. market with flavored vapes that have been among the best-selling U.S. brands, including Elf Bar, EBDesign and Lost Mary.”
A second reported Chinese individual responsible for the illicit vapes is Jay Kim, a major vape customs broker and distributor who reportedly accounted for nearly 40 percent of all lawfully declared shipments of e-vapor products to the U.S. from China for 2024, according to the FDA. His business operates in IJOY, Lost Mary, and Geek Bar vapes. The FDA cited the vapes in a “Warning Letter.”“Joe Biden stood by as China flooded our market with toxic illegal vapes,” a Senate leadership aide told Breitbart News. “This is a chance for a huge win for President Trump. Every Congressional Republican will thank him for protecting Americans from toxic Chinese vapes—and so will every parent.”
Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former RNC War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.
