Elf Bar and other Chinese e-cigarette makers dodged U.S. customs and taxes by labeling them as ‘battery chargers,’ ‘flashlights’ and other items
In only two years, a small, colorful vaping device called Elf Bar has become the most popular disposable e-cigarette in the world, generating billions in sales and quickly emerging as the overwhelming favorite of underage U.S. teens who vape.
Last week, U.S. authorities publicly announced the first seizure of some of the company’s products, part of an operation confiscating 1.4 million illegal, flavored e-cigarettes from China. Officials pegged the value of the items at $18 million, including brands other than Elf Bar.
But the makers of Elf Bar and other Chinese e-cigarettes have imported products worth hundreds of millions of dollars while repeatedly dodging customs and avoiding taxes and import fees, according to public records and court documents reviewed by The Associated Press.
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.
To be fair, sometimes it's fucking complicated to find the correct HS code for some goods...
I don't condone their action, but i totally understand 😂😂
Now this has me wondering if all these vapes disguised as highlighters, water bottles, and hoodies are really some kind of tax dodge.
It would be more newsworthy if a Chinese exporter did label the customs disclosure accurately. Every time I order a package internationally it comes labeled as "books" or something similarly vague
Fuck fortune for lying. The true customers are quitting cigarettes so let's tell them to stop sucking tobaccoo's cock.
These disposable vapes have such low quality control and several brands have been caught with high concentrations of cadmium and other heavy metals. There are plenty of other legit ecig options on the market that won't kill you (as fast) and aren't aimed at teens. Please stop with the bullshit tinfoil hat argument, the disposable vapes market is a quick and dirty cash grab by shady manufacturers in Shenzhen.
Ok, true, I'll give you that but STOP USING TEENS to target the whole market.
zomg teens use this product. ban it. rinse. repeat. the manufacturers and importers aren't the ones distributing the product to teenagers. how about going after the shady c-stores that are, instead.
Because they're owned and run by tobacco companies doing exactly what they call.
people are going to do things that feel good, regardless of what's a health risk. why else would teenage pregnancy be a thing?
banning e-cigs feels a lot like how K2/Spice was banned, then they just change the formulation & it's legal again
Disposable ones should be banned. I'm amazed that it's cost-effective to throw away batteries like that.
yeah, battery tech is pretty cheap when economies of scale are in play