Chinese-made nicotine and electronic cigarette products illegally flooded U.S. markets under former President Joe Biden, endangering both adults and children and posing an "urgent threat to U.S. sovereignty, public health, and law enforcement capacity," according to nicotine awareness activist and former GOP senator Richard Burr. (Bonnie Cash/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images and iStock)
Burr said that currently approximately 85% of vapor and e-cigarette products sold in the U.S. are either illicit or unauthorized due to the Biden FDA’s failure to enforce the law.
Now, Burr is urging the Trump administration to be proactive in fixing the Chinese nicotine problem unleashed on Americans under Biden.
Burr sent a letter to Trump’s FDA commissioner, Martin Makary, as well as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, urging them to take urgent action to "restore order" to the marketplace by reforming the government’s review process of nicotine and e-cigarette products and then fully enforcing against the entities responsible for growing the illicit market.
In his letter, Burr describes the U.S. as being "in the midst of a crisis created by the free flow of illegal nicotine products into the U.S. marketplace, the majority of which are supplied by Chinese companies that are knowingly breaking U.S. laws."
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Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a news conference on the Autism report by the CDC at the Hubert Humphrey Building Auditorium in Washington, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Speaking with Fox News Digital, Burr said that both Kennedy and President Donald Trump "have embraced a healthier America that our kids should be eating healthier, should be actively involved, and we should make sure that anything that's detrimental to their ability to grow and to grow up healthy should be constricted significantly."
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"This is at the heart of that," he said.
In response, a spokesperson speaking on behalf of King told Fox News Digital that "the claim that there was no attempt at enforcement is not consistent with the facts."
They listed 30 different enforcement actions the agency took under King's tenure in 2023 and 2024, ranging from sending warning letters to potential violators to denying marketing requests to manufacturers not in compliance.
"Within the past few years, the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products took many first-time compliance and enforcement actions, including setting up a joint interagency task force and conducting multiple targeted enforcement operations against illegally imported e-cigarettes in coordination with US Customs and Border Protection. This was in addition to other first of their kind actions across the supply chain focused on unauthorized products from non-US manufacturers, including monthly retailer blitzes against Elf Bar and other unauthorized disposable e-cigarette brands used by youth," they said.
"The FDA and other agencies should build on these efforts and take comprehensive enforcement action against illegal e-cigarettes, particularly those popular among youth," said the spokesperson.
Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/exclusive-biden-failed-stop-chinas-toxic-nicotine-invasion-your-kids-paid-price-expert-warns