US faces vape shortage as China tariffs, seizures hit Geek Bar

Daily Maverick

a day ago

Shipments of vapes from China to the U.S. ground to a near halt in May from a year ago, official data shows, hit by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and a crackdown on unauthorised e-cigarettes in the world's biggest market for smoking alternatives.
That includes Geek Bar, a brand of flavoured vapes that is not authorised to sell in the U.S. but which had been widely available due to porous import controls.
One retailer, who asked not to be named because their business sells unauthorised vapes, told Reuters that one of the store's vape suppliers normally receives 100 boxes of Geek Bar vapes per week, but is now getting just ten. Another supplier imposed unprecedented purchase limits.
'There were a lot of supply chain issues' during COVID-19, the person said. 'But I've never seen this.'
The U.S. supplier limited purchases to five boxes at a time due to 'tariff-related price increases and limited market availability', an undated notice to customers seen by Reuters showed.
Trump's decision to impose steep tariffs on China, now at 30% after peaking at 145% in April, as well as blockbuster seizures of unauthorised vapes, have constrained the supply of Chinese-owned vape brands and Geek Bar in particular, according to five industry sources and notices from U.S. Geek Bar wholesalers reviewed by Reuters.
Between May 1 and May 28 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recorded just 71 shipments of products labelled as e-cigarettes or vapes from China, compared with nearly 1,200 over the same period last year. Such imports had fallen between 40% and 60% in February, March and April, after Trump came into office, but collapsed in May, the data show.
'Due to increased tariffs, rising production costs, and reduced supply chain capacity, the manufacturer has informed us that they will be reducing supply volume in the near-term,' one U.S. regional Geek Bar wholesaler wrote to customers on April 22 in an email shared with Reuters.
'WE'RE TALKING ABOUT NICOTINE HERE'
In the meantime, vape distributors expect prices to go in one direction. 'With tariffs, it'll definitely go up,' said one U.S. vape distributor who asked not to be named.
But that might not impact sales much. Unauthorised vape manufacturers enjoy hefty margins, and so can eat some of the cost of tariffs, Luis Pinto, a spokesperson for British American Tobacco's BATS.L U.S. subsidiary, said.
Meanwhile, consumers hooked on vapes tend to keep buying, even as the price goes up.
'If the price goes up, the price goes up. We're talking about nicotine here,' the vape distributor said, adding unlike other products, addicted users need their fix.
Vapes like Geek Bar – priced around $20 currently – would still be good value even with a $5 increase, the person said.
Geek Bar manufacturer, Guangdong Qisitech, did not respond to a request for comment sent to its general email address.
Pinto agreed the tariffs will increase prices but probably not to the point 'where it is a barrier to usage'.
Many of the vapes landing on U.S. shelves are manufactured in Shenzhen, which meets the majority of the world's demand for vapes.
Some factories there make devices for large tobacco companies with the legal licence to sell their products in the United States, such as Japan Tobacco International 2914.T. Others fuel a booming market for unregulated devices that U.S. authorities say are illegal to import or sell.
To mitigate tariffs, illicit vape producers can mislabel or undervalue their shipments or spoof their origin entirely to make it look like they came from a lower-tariff country like Indonesia, Vietnam or Mexico, Pinto said.
Vapes from China are often smuggled into the U.S. disguised as other items entirely, such as shoes or toys, to evade officials hunting for unauthorised vapes at the border, according to public statements from the FDA and Customs and Border Protection.
Geek Bar was by far the most popular unauthorised vape brand in the U.S. last year, accounting for around a quarter of sales tracked by market research company Circana in 2024 despite lacking a licence to sell from the FDA, which has struggled to contain illegal imports from China.
The brand, as well as thousands of other labels often made in China and lacking FDA permission, are stocked by wholesalers and retailers around the country, often sold alongside authorised labels from big tobacco companies like BAT and Altria MO.N.
PANIC BUYING
U.S. tariffs have driven panic buying of vapes by U.S. buyers, higher shipping costs and increased risks at the border, the distributor, a former distributor and a person who used to work for a major Chinese vape company said.
Substantial vape seizures were also a big driver of Geek Bar supply issues, two of the sources said. The FDA announced a large seizure in Chicago in February, and new FDA commissioner Marty Makary has pledged to crack down on unauthorised vapes.
Government notices on seized goods show further vape seizures in March and April.
The growth of Geek Bar and other unregulated vape brands have eaten into the market share of cigarette companies like Altria and BAT, which estimates unauthorised e-cigarettes accounted for some 70% of all U.S. vape sales last year.
Altria CEO Billy Gifford told investors in April that he hoped tariffs would lead to 'much more enforcement' of vapes at the border.
Trump's trade war with China has also seen China-U.S. air freight and shipping capacity collapse limiting shipping capacity for cargo including vapes.
The FDA's data only captures shipments properly declared as vapes. As a result, it has recorded declining vape shipments since 2020 even as industry sales have grown.
An FDA spokesperson said the agency expects the number of shipments it captures to increase as it ramps up efforts to ensure compliance and prevent illegal imports.
Unauthorised vape makers have also been moving production to Indonesia – a shift that prolonged tariffs on China would likely accelerate, the former employee said.
Vape makers are 'highly adaptable', the person said. 'Whatever happens in the U.S., the industry will survive.'