ENDS Chinese Vapes Act of 2026
Sponsored By: Representative Hinson, Ashley [R-IA-2]
Introduced
Summary
Creates tiered civil penalties for unauthorized electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) imports. This bill would penalize fraudulent, grossly negligent, or negligent entries and set per-unit fines with higher multipliers for evasion or repeat violations.
Show full summary
- Importers and distributors would face tiered per-unit fines, with fraud carrying up to $5,000 per unit.
- Aggravating factors can raise penalties up to five times the base fine for transshipment, concealment, or repeat offenses, and a shipment's penalty cannot exceed 1,000% of its estimated U.S. retail value.
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection would use its existing penalty collection framework to assess and collect fines. The bill defines "unauthorized ENDS" and "unit" and treats related companies under common ownership as a single person for repeat-violation rules.
Your PRIA Score
Personalized for You
How does this bill affect your finances?
Sign up for a PRIA Policy Scan to see your personalized alignment score for this bill and every other piece of legislation we track. We analyze your financial profile against policy provisions to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.
Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
Higher penalties for illegal vape imports
If enacted, the bill would make it unlawful to enter or try to enter unauthorized vaping products into U.S. customs territory. It would create per-unit civil penalties up to $5,000 for fraud, $1,000 for gross negligence, and $500 for negligence. Penalties would be multiplied: 2× when a shipment was transshipped to hide origin or evade duties, 3× for a second or later violation within 3 years, and up to 5× if both apply. Each entry or attempted entry would count as a single violation. Total penalties for a shipment would not exceed 1,000% (10×) of the shipment's estimated U.S. retail value. The bill would define key terms like "unauthorized ENDS," "unit," and "person," direct CBP to set valuation and aggregation rules, and preserve other agencies' civil, criminal, and administrative authorities.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Hinson, Ashley [R-IA-2]
IA • R
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov