American e-cigarettes relocate production from China

Two US-based electronic cigarette makers plan to shift assembly of their product to the United States from China to improve quality control and profitability, and, according to one of the company CEOs, to also remove "the stigma of working in China".

Mistic Electronic Cigarettes in Charlotte, North Carolina, and White Cloud Electronic Cigarettes in Tarpon Springs, Florida, announced their moves last month.

Most e-cigarettes are made in China, where the battery-powered cartridge used in them was invented.

Mistic makes the liquid for its e-cigarettes in the US and then outsources it to China where the product is assembled.

John Wiesehan Jr, CEO of Mistic, said eliminating the product's assembly in China would help Mistic improve "supply-chain efficiency" and profitability.

"There are a lot of business factors at play for what we're doing," Wiesehan said Wednesday in an interview with China Daily. "We're very happy with the factory we use and we're still going to be doing business with China, but we'll just end up finishing the product here."

"The stigma of working in China was not a main reason, but it was one of many factors," he said.

The general manager of a US-based manufacturer of the liquid used in e-cigarettes that works with e-cigarette manufacturers in China, who asked that neither his name nor the name of his company be used, told China Daily that his company also plans to move from China because of what he said is a bias in the US against "made in China" products.

"When people think about something made in China, they do think about less than high-quality products," he said. "It couldn't be further from the truth, but it's hard to convince the consumer."

"Even though we control the production, there's still a stigma since some of our products are made in China," he said. "That's what we want to do away with."

In a story last month about Mistic and White Cloud moving assembly of their e-cigarettes out of China, Reuters said "many companies are pleased with production in China and have no plans to move their operations."

Mistic's CEO said the company will continue to import materials for its e-cigarettes from its partners in China, including the cartridges and battery components.

Neither e-cigarettes nor e-liquids are regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

jackfreifelder@chinadailyusa.com