President Donald Trump rescinded a proposed ban on menthol cigarettes, which was put forward by his predecessor, former President Joe Biden.
The Food and Drug Administration originally proposed the ban at the urging of anti-smoking advocates back in 2022. However, though the Office of Management and Budget completed its review back in 2023, Biden never finalized the rule.
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The former president twice missed deadlines to do so, first in December 2023 and then again in March 2024, after law enforcement and drug policy experts voiced concerns over the new regulation.
A White House filing from Jan. 21, the day after Trump’s inauguration, shows the proposed rule has been “withdrawn.”
Anti-smoking advocates quickly criticized the decision, with Tobacco-Free Kids CEO Yolonda Richardson calling Trump’s move “deeply disappointing.”
“It is more critical than ever that states and cities step up their efforts to end the sale of menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products,” she said in a statement.
Prior to leaving office, Biden also advanced a separate tobacco regulation, one that would set maximum nicotine levels for combustible cigarettes and effectively ban all cigarettes currently available in the United States.
Again, OMB completed its review of the rule, but it was never finalized by the FDA.
Opponents of both bans said they would lead to an explosion of black-market trade in unregulated cigarettes. The menthol ban was viewed as particularly “retributive,” as black and Latino communities consume a disproportionate share of those products, which make up a third of all cigarette sales.
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Some economic experts have argued that the broader cigarette ban could eliminate up to 150,000 agricultural and retail jobs and result in up to $25 billion in lost annual tax revenue.
The Trump White House did not respond to questions regarding Biden’s proposed low-nicotine thresholds.
