How Trump Tariffs Could Effect The US Vape Industry
Who knew politics could hit the vaping industry? It's been discovered that even the vaping industry is not safe from politics with Trump Tariffs. On August 1, 2018, President Trump put in place a tariff on Chinese imports that doubled it from 10%-25%. This affects 16 billion dollars worth of Chinese imports, including vaping products.
Everyone thought the vaping industry was safe because it was not included in the first round of product hit with the 25% tariffs on July 6, 2018. However, when Trump announced these taxes, China struck back. China reacted with a proposition of a 10% hike on 200 billion dollars worth of Chinese imports. These taxes then raised to 25% on July 25, 2018. These taxes are set to be in effect in September of 2018.
Many concerned citizens are calling this another trade war with China. However, President Trump said via twitter that, "We are not in a trade war with China, that war was lost many years ago by the foolish, or incompetent, people who represented the U.S. Now we have a Trade Deficit of $500 Billion a year, with Intellectual Property Theft of another $300 Billion. We cannot let this continue!"
Trump has said, that this tariff is meant to help the American industry, hopefully causing vape companies to create jobs in America to manufacture these products. Nonetheless, numerous people think it is going to cause people to lose their jobs as consumers may not want to pay the higher prices and may just go back to smoking cigarettes. Countless people agree that this new tariff will not harm China, it will only harm American vape product users and the retailers who sell it.
91% of vaping products come from China so this tariff is going to have a major effect on the vaping industry. If the proposal goes through, consumers will notice higher prices at their local vape shops. Most vape juices are made in America, however where it's going to hit the industry hard is that most of the devices are not, including some batteries that power the devices. There are plans set in place to oppose this new tariff, vaping advocate groups are planning to lobby the US Trade Representative Office, to try and show how much this could damage America more than China.
Tony Abboud the President of Vapor Technology Association said, "Yes, it will hurt consumers, yes, it will hurt the industry." However, one saving grace might be that there is new technology that doesn't include 'metal' and this may help reduce the prices of sub-ohm devices and tanks made with metal.
Understandably this is a lot of information to take it, however, this information is crucial to those within the vaping community. Prices are already high on most devices because of what they cost to make in general, and these taxes will for sure make the prices sky rocket. However, the US is searching for a trade deal with China that will hopefully relieve the additional costs associated with vape hardware. Keep you eyes peeled for more information regarding this tariff, as if we can not find a mutually beneficial deal, your wallets will surely feel the wrath.
