Members of the committee: My name is Guy Bentley and I’m a research associate at Reason Foundation. Reason Foundation’s nonpartisan public policy research promotes choice, competition and a dynamic market economy as the foundation for human dignity and progress.
I urge the committee to reject proposed tariff increases on Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems otherwise known as e-cigarettes. E-cigarettes are known to be 95 to 99 percent safer than combustible tobacco cigarettes and are the most popular and effective tool used by Americans to quit smoking.
These tariffs would raise the price of e-cigarettes and disincentivize American smokers from switching from smoking to vaping. Tariffs of any kind are a direct tax on consumers. There must be an overwhelming social or national security case to justify such burdens on American consumers. In the case of e-cigarettes, no such case can or has been made.