Imports of Electronic Cigarettes Quadrupled in Two Years, GAO Reports
The Government Accountability Office found that e-cigarette devices brought in $71.5 million in tariff revenues from 2016 to 2018, while parts for the vaping industry were responsible for $41.6 million in tariffs. The liquid for e-cigarettes is imported at lower volumes, and accounted for $7.4 million in tariffs during the two-year period.
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The report, requested by Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., compiled Customs data for six tariff lines that were created in 2016. Tariff rates were 1.9 percent to 6.5 percent before Section 301 tariffs. About 97 percent of the imports come from China.
Los Angeles, Cleveland, Chicago, Savannah and Norfolk were the entry ports for 81 percent of the $2.4 billion in e-cigarette goods that entered during the two years.