MAGA-friendly vape firm caught buying toxins from China — as feds crack down on fake ‘made in America’ claims

A vape company plastering its products with “MAGA” branding is facing scrutiny from the Trump administration over allegedly bogus “Made in America” claims, with federal regulators saying its disposable e-cigarettes — including the toxic chemicals inside them — are actually sourced from China.
The Federal Trade Commission sent a warning letter shortly after the Fourth of July to the parent company of Fifty Bar, a disposable e-cigarette maker with a manufacturing and assembly facility in Southern California.
On its website, the company brands itself as “the only disposable built in the USA.”
In its warning, the commission alleged Fifty Bar may be violating false or misleading labeling laws and asked for plans to come into compliance.
“Based on information Commission staff has reviewed, it has reason to believe that Lucky Bar may
be importing, in whole or in significant part, the Product despite making these unqualified U.S. origin claims,” the letter read.
The company’s owner Brady Bates, who has used the slogan “Making Vaping American Again,” has acknowledged in the past that the parts came from China.
There have been concerns with potential harm coming from the imports. Fifty Bar’s products have turned up on state registries loaded with nixodine, a Chinese-manufactured chemical designed specifically to evade US regulation.
Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary said in his Senate confirmation hearing last year that US markets were “being flooded” with unlawful Chinese vapes.
“We have no idea what’s in these products,” Makary said. “It’s very concerning, and it’s not right that they’re banned — products are banned in China, but they’re manufacturing and sending them to the United States.”
The California Post reached out to Fifty Bar for comment.
Richard Marianos, a senior law enforcement consultant who worked for the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told The Post that the Trump administration needs to crack down on companies like Fifty Bar who use nixodine.
“President Trump is leading the charge to crack down on illicit vapes flooding our market from China,” he said. “Fifty Bar knows exactly what they’re putting in their products. This is the kind of loophole the Trump administration should be closing next.”