China is waging a war on our children. And its weapons of choice are dangerous, illegal e-cigarettes disguised as harmless fun.
Illegal Chinese vapes continue to flood into the United States, targeting children with candy flavors, vibrant packaging, and video game-themed devices to get them hooked on dangerous levels of nicotine and a cocktail of harmful chemicals.
These unregulated vapes aren’t just a health crisis. They’re an outright attack on our children by a foreign government that rakes in billions while mocking U.S. laws.
Smuggled into our country as “toys” or “flashlights,” these vapes are designed to dodge Customs and Border Protection and Food and Drug Administration scrutiny. Loaded with toxic contaminants, they’re banned in China. Yet these flavored vapes dominate the U.S. market, driven by a China-fueled e-cigarette pipeline.
They are easy to find and hard to resist. In convenience, vape, and tobacco shops across the country, you will find dozens of different illegal vape brands and flavors. According to the FDA, most children who vape are using illegal Chinese e-cigarettes.
President Donald Trump protected the public from illegal vapes through targeted policies during his first term. But former President Joe Biden quickly reversed that work with slap-on-the-wrist enforcement over the past four years. Biden’s inaction allowed the multibillion-dollar Chinese vape industry to prey on our children and kick off a massive youth public health crisis.
Today, China continues to skirt U.S. law as its illegal vape industry booms. It’s time to crush this poison and hold China accountable.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TAKING ACTION ON ‘PORT SHOPPING’ TO COMBAT CHINESE VAPE ‘ATTACK’
That’s why I’m asking Trump to allow the FDA, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and CBP not only to block, seize, and destroy illegal Chinese e-cigarettes again, but to hold accountable the criminals who profit from targeting our children.
I was glad to lead every Republican state attorney general in calling for stronger federal action to combat this crisis. In his first administration, Trump held back the flood of illegal vapes. Just like he secured our borders and cracked down on international criminal gangs, Trump has the strength to end this poison’s invasion of our country. By dismantling the illegal Chinese vape pipeline, we’ll protect our children, uphold our laws, and tell China that American youth are not for sale.
Brenna Bird is the attorney general of Iowa.