Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/1541387
42 tobaccoasia Issue 6, 2025 November / December By Timothy S. Donahue In early September, US regulators conducted the most significant enforcement actions yet against the independent vaping industry, seizing millions of unauthorized e-cigarette products in coordi- nated raids and border operations. The unprecedented scale of the seizures highlights how federal policy is transforming the US nicotine market and raises concerns about the future of small busi- nesses that once believed president Donald Trump's 2024 campaign pledge to "save vaping." On September 10, US Marshals and US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) agents, in cooperation with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), raided mul- tiple distributors and retailers across six states. One of the primary targets was Midwest Goods Inc., a major wholesale supplier located in Bensenville, IL. Later that day, FDA and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced a separate seizure of 4.7 million unauthorized vaping products at the Port of Chicago, valued at more than US$86 million. Federal officials described it as the largest e-cigarette seizure in US history. Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., FDA commissioner Marty Makary, and US attorney general Pam Bondi traveled to Illinois to stand before tables of confiscated products and highlight the administration's message: enforcement is accelerating, and unauthorized nicotine products – whether imported or manufactured domestically – are now at risk. Federal raids and seizures Agents arrived at the Midwest Goods warehouse in suburban Chicago early in the morning. By midday, trucks were being loaded with seized products, and federal officials displayed examples of flavored e-liquid bottles such as "Watermelon Ice" for the cameras. Bondi accused companies of targeting minors through "candy-like names and patriotic packaging." She then added, "Don't let the American flag fool you. It's Chinese." US Enforcement Shift: Vape Raids; Record Seizures Even US-made e-liquids and open-system vapes were seized in the recent raids by US authorities. Credit: Rawpixel. "When you go after distributors, that means everyone downstream, including all the small mom-and- pop businesses that they supply, will have to shut down." —Tony Abboud, Vapor Technology Association