Customs duties: UK under pressure over influx of Chinese e-cigs

The Trump administration recently imposed massive new tariffs on Chinese products, particularly e-cigarettes, shifting the balance of international trade in this sector. Faced with the closure of the US market, Chinese manufacturers are redirecting their exports to other markets, including the United Kingdom. This shift is raising serious concerns among public health stakeholders, even as the United Kingdom has embarked on an ambitious policy to reduce smoking, with the recent adoption of legislation aimed at creating a tobacco-free generation and banning disposable e-cigarettes.

Sino-American trade tensions: a British market postponed

Since April 2025, the Trump administration has announced drastic and successive tariff increases on a series of products from China, as part of a new wave of trade sanctions. Among the targeted goods are e-cigarettes, now subject to tariffs of up to 60 billion. This measure aims to contain the dominance of the American market by Chinese vaping products, the vast majority of which are designed, assembled, and shipped from China.

Faced with an abrupt closure of the US market, Chinese producers are turning to other commercial outlets. The United Kingdom is emerging as one of the main alternative markets, both due to its high level of e-cigarette consumption and the current absence of an equivalent tariff barrier. This situation is creating an immediate spillover effect: according to industry estimates, the volume of Chinese products destined for the British market has surged since April, prompting a concerned response from British health authorities.

New models to circumvent the ban on disposable devices

The ban on disposable e-cigarettes is set to come into force in the UK on June 1, 2025. The bill, presented as a pillar of the government's environmental health policy, aims to reduce vaping among young people attracted to these disposable cigarettes and to reduce plastic waste from single-use devices. However, the vaping industry already appears to be adapting to circumvent this impending ban.

According to The Guardian[1], Chinese manufacturers are rapidly developing a new generation of so-called "semi-disposable" products: rechargeable devices equipped with replaceable pods, but designed to be almost as cheap and visually similar to the banned disposable versions. These products, while technically compliant with the new regulations, are causing concern among experts, who believe they could be perceived by consumers as single-use products, thus compromising the environmental and health objectives of the ban. Several manufacturers are already positioning themselves in this segment with products specifically designed to meet British demand. Industry players warn that this new generation could quickly flood points of sale if no additional regulatory framework is put in place.

A similar situation has already been observed in France since the ban on disposable electronic devices. Several manufacturers that initially marketed puffs quickly repositioned themselves. They offer devices that can be refilled a limited number of times, sometimes up to three refills, or have introduced products specifically designed to circumvent European regulations on the maximum capacity of tanks (2 ml). Some marketed models combine a non-removable 2 ml tank integrated into the device, to which is added a pre-filled 10 ml refill pod, which clips onto the same device. The product is not refillable with another pod once the first 10 ml pod is emptied, making the device de facto disposable after a single full use.

A threat to Britain's ambition for a tobacco-free generation

This situation could undermine one of the UK government's major goals: to achieve a tobacco-free generation through the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, currently before Parliament. This legislation aims to ban the sale of tobacco to people born after January 1, 2009, while tightening restrictions on vaping products, including banning attractive flavors and limiting product sizes and advertising.

However, the massive arrival of new products designed to exploit regulatory gray areas could undermine this strategy. Several industry experts believe that authorities must react quickly to adapt their regulatory arsenal and prevent these devices from escaping the spirit of the law. This development illustrates the growing tensions between national regulatory imperatives and globalized industrial logic, in a context where manufacturers are constantly adapting to circumvent restrictive measures.

©Generation Without Tobacco

AE