In 2025, the US e-cigarette regulatory policy will continue the strict trend since 2024, focusing on youth protection and crackdown on illegal products. According to the FDA’s legislative trend, the STN code declaration requirements for imported products may be further refined, and non-compliant products will be directly intercepted.
At the same time, the enforcement of online retailers will be intensified, and the multi-department joint working group (including the Ministry of Justice, ATF, etc.) will continue to use criminal and civil means to crack down on illegal distribution, especially the consumption of flavored e-cigarettes by teenagers. The age verification standard may be expanded from under 30 years old to a wider range of scenarios, and the control of channels such as vending machines will be stricter.
Ingredients and labeling specifications: The FDA may require companies to submit more detailed PMTA (Tobacco Product Market Access Application) data, including nicotine content, additive safety and long-term health impact assessment. Environmental protection and sustainable development: Drawing on the carbon neutrality practice of British American Tobacco’s Vuse brand, the policy may impose mandatory requirements on e-cigarette packaging materials (such as the proportion of recyclable plastics) and waste product recycling programs. Functional restrictions: Restrictive regulations may be introduced for design elements that attract teenagers, such as “cool lighting effects” and “music playback”, to push products back to basic functions.
Consolidation of the advantages of leading companies: The high cost and technical barriers of PMTA will accelerate market concentration, and traditional tobacco giants (such as British American Tobacco’s Vuse) and companies with strong compliance capabilities (such as VEEHOO) may dominate.
Survival pressure of small and medium-sized brands: Stricter policies have led to a surge in compliance costs for small brands, and some companies may turn to niche markets (such as medical nicotine replacement products) or withdraw from the US market.
Strengthening cross-border e-commerce supervision: For e-cigarette products from major exporting countries such as China, customs inspections will be stricter, requiring the provision of complete STN codes and ingredient certification documents, and cross-border logistics cycles may be extended.
Direction of technological innovation: Policies force companies to develop low-nicotine, flavor-free base liquid products, while exploring degradable materials and modular designs to meet environmental protection requirements. VEEHOO can improve atomization efficiency and reduce the release of harmful substances by deploying ceramic core technology.
Channel transformation: The importance of offline stores and franchise dealers has increased to reduce dependence on e-commerce platforms and avoid compliance risks. VEEHOO needs to strengthen cooperation with local US distributors to establish an end-to-end traceability system.
Brand differentiation: Within the regulatory framework, VEEHOO can focus on the concept of “healthy alternatives”, emphasize the low harm supported by clinical data, and enhance brand loyalty through user education.
The core contradiction of US e-cigarette policy in 2025 is still the balance between “smoking control” and “innovation”. In the short term, industry growth will be limited by tightening regulation, but in the long run, the compliance process will drive the market to transform in a high-quality and sustainable direction. Companies such as VEEHOO need to lay out policy-sensitive areas in advance and build a moat through technology reserves and strategic cooperation to cope with the evolving regulatory environment.
Tags: US e-cigarette policy, youth design elements, reduce the release of harmful substances, veehoo vape