E-Cigarette Production Moving Out Of China On Quality Concerns

The anti-vaping kooks are grasping at straws trying to find a ‘hook’ that will allow them to demonize e-cigarettes the same way they have tobacco products. In addition to the last resort of the argumentatively bankrupt (‘It’s for the children’) these scolds have tried to raise a fuss over the safety of many of the materials used in the manufacture of e-cigarettes. In an effort to better ensure that all phases of the construction process are safe and to facilitate better quality control a number of e-cig manufacturers are moving manufacturing from China to the United States.

You can make a compelling case that the Chinese invented the e-cigarette. At the very least they invented the battery powered cartridges that produce the vapor. For much of the e-cigarette boom manufacturers imported their product from China in many cases shipping flavoring from the United States. With the industry booming there’s now a move to bring production to the United States. This not only helps with safety and quality control but will likely reduce manufacturing costs in the process.

Several companies including Mistic and White Cloud have announced the move. Industry analysts suggest that this is a trend that could continue in the near future. Not only is it beneficial in the ways outlined above but there’s a good chance that the FDA could demand more oversight of the production process as they wrap their tentacles around the e-cigarette industry. At the same time, however, several large brands have indicated that they have no plans to change the current Chinese based manufacturing process. NJOY is one of these–they ship flavor to China for assembly there and they dismiss concerns about safety and quality insisting that their own quality control processes are the best in the industry.

As ‘Big Tobacco’ gets in to the E-cigarette game they’ll likely produce products in the United States as well. Reynolds American has already started manufacturing e-cigarette products that are distributed regionally and they plan to expand their market later this year. These companies want to grab their share of the e-cigarette market as a hedge against a further decline in tobacco sales. Some analysts project that by 2020 e-cigarette sales will surpass sales of tobacco cigarettes in the United States.