U.S. Senators Katie Britt, Ted Budd, Colleagues Urge Action Against Chinese Effort to Flood U.S. Markets with Illicit Vape Products

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), and several of their Republican colleagues sent a letter to President Trump urging him to confront the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on its efforts to flood the United States with illicit, unauthorized vapes. In the letter, the senators call on the administration to press President Xi to enforce the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) existing export rules, halt the manufacturing and exporting of illicit vape products targeting U.S. markets, and cooperate with U.S. enforcement agencies to address the national drug crisis at its source. In the letter, the Senators wrote, “China has the power to stop this but has chosen not to … Beijing enforces this rule selectively while allowing hundreds of millions of illegal e-cigarettes to be exported to the U.S. annually, generating billions of dollars in revenue. This is a deliberate strategy that exploits gaps in U.S. enforcement … “This is a public health crisis, a national security threat, and a trade-fairness failure at once. Honest American retailers who follow federal law are being undercut by a black market supplied almost entirely from a single country that profits while our families pay the price,” the Senators continued. Joining Senator Britt and Budd in co-signing the letter were Senators Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Alan Armstrong (R-Okla.), Ashley Moody (R-Fla.), and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.). Senator Britt has continued to highlight the dangers of these products and how in many instances, they target America’s youth. In a May 2026 hearing, the Senator raised this issue with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). In an October 2025 hearing with the Department of Justice (DOJ), she questioned then-Attorney General Pam Bondi on the efforts of the DOJ to combat these illegal products. You can read the full letter here . ###