The Guardian of the UK reported that due to the trade friction between China and the US and the US’s high tariff policy. Chinese vape manufacturers are turning their attention to the UK market and plan to export a large number of low-priced, rechargeable vape products.
Key points:
- The Guardian of the UK reported that due to the impact of the trade friction between China and the US. Chinese vape manufacturers have shifted their focus to the UK market.
- The UK has introduced new regulations to ban disposable vapes to reduce the environmental burden.
- Experts predict that the price of vapes in the UK may decline in the future due to increased supply from China.
- Experts are concerned that the emergence of new types of vapes may not successfully curb the habit of disposable consumption.
British media: China-US trade friction hits China’s vape exports
According to a report by The Guardian of the UK on May 19th, researchers said that due to the impact of the trade friction between China and the US, Chinese producers are planning to export a large number of low-priced vapes to the UK.
The report said that the import tariff on vapes made in China by the United States remains at around 60%. This has put China’s $11.1 billion (about 8.4 billion pounds) vape export industry in a difficult situation, which has already been hit by strict domestic restrictions in 2022.
The UK has introduced new regulations to ban disposable vapes to reduce the environmental burden.
The UK is about to introduce a ban on disposable vapes, aiming to reduce the number of vapes discarded each week (currently about 8 million, 5 million in 2023) and prevent young people from developing the habit of vapes. This ban also brings a new type of vape to the market.
Deborah Arnott, an honorary associate professor at University College London and a former advisor to Action on Smoking and Health, said that China naturally targeted the UK.
- “As the number of products accessing the US market decreases, competition in the UK market will become increasingly fierce because the UK is a major alternative market,” she said.
Low-cost products may flood the UK market
Steve Shaowei Xu, a research scientist at the University of Waterloo in Canada and an expert in China’s vape industry, said that global uncertainties have put general pressure on factories in the past few weeks. It has been reported that the transportation of goods has been disrupted and orders from the United States have decreased by half. He added that this “very mature” industry would find ways to avoid the current “disaster”.
The industry has come up with a workaround to continue selling in the UK, while cheaper imported products transferred from the US may exert downward pressure on prices.
These vapes are rechargeable, with a replaceable Pod and coil, which means they qualify as “vape sets” rather than disposable vapes. But experts say these vapes usually look “very similar” to disposable vapes.
People are also worried about the supply situation of refilling pods. A reporter from The Guardian visited 30 shopping malls in London to look for restocking of 600 pre-packed cartridges from ELFBAR. Only three malls had the stock.
Experts predict that the price of vapes in the UK may decline
What I’m worried about is that since they look no different and are still very cheap, people might continue to throw them away as disposable items instead of buying refill packs. Arnault said.
Xu said:
- The Chinese vape industry is a “very complex and rapidly developing consumer industry”. We need to continue to seek alternative ways to comply with regulations, especially in the face of “disastrous” tariffs.
He added, “In the long term, they can try to move manufacturing overseas for tariffs, but in the short term, they must replace the market to survive.”
A spokesperson for ELFBAR and Lost Mary said:
- “We can confirm that our refill packs and containers are mainly and widely sold throughout the UK, including all wholesalers and supermarkets, and this scale is still expanding. However, we understand your concerns about refilling supplies, as we cannot know the extent to which other brands offer refilling supplies. Although we haven’t had the opportunity to resume this research yet, we regret that our replenishment supply situation seems to have been fully reflected. To accurately and evenly reflect the current market pattern, it is crucial to include all major brands in the research scope.”
