Hinson Leads House Effort to Crack Down on Illegal Chinese Vape Imports
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Ashley Hinson (IA-02) introduced the Eliminating Nefarious Distribution of Smuggled Chinese Vapes Act — also known as the ENDS Chinese Vapes Act — to stop the flood of illegal, unregulated, Chinese vape products that are targeting America’s youth. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) has introduced companion legislation in the Senate.
The bill would strengthen enforcement against illicit vape imports and impose tougher civil penalties on bad actors knowingly bringing illicit Chinese vape products into the United States.
“China is flooding our country with illegal vape products designed to hook our kids, and as a mom to teenage boys, I refuse to sit back and let that happen. These illegal vapes contain dangerous chemicals and shockingly high amounts of nicotine, yet China is pushing them on American kids while banning them at home. That cannot continue. This bill ramps up enforcement and ensures bad actors that are targeting American kids face serious consequences.” — Congresswoman Ashley Hinson
Background:
The ENDS Chinese Vapes Act would establish escalated civil penalties for any person who imports or attempts to import illegal vapes into the U.S.
- $500 per vape unit for violations involving ordinary negligence
- $1,000 per vape unit for violations involving gross negligence
- $5,000 per vape unit for violations involving fraud or knowing mislabeling.
NOTE: Penalties double if the shipment involved transshipment, false country-of-origins declarations, or other evasion tactics. Penalties triple for repeat offenders within a three-year period. The combined penalty is capped at 1,000 percent of the shipment’s estimated retail value in the United States.
Earlier this year, Rep. Hinson joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers in calling on the administration to combat the flow of unauthorized Chinese vapes into American markets and schools.
Read the full text of the bill here.
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