I am not surprised to see some blends vanishing already. Especially if they are not popular or profitable enough to jump through regulatory hoops for. I think we are going to see a lot of blends going away just for that reason. Too much of a risk until the approval process is clearly laid out and the costs known.

The only way around this that I can see, and few companies would have the resources for this, would be to move ownership and production to any country other than the U.S. and stick to online sales direct to the customer much in the way certain cigars still make it into the U.S. In theory they would have two years to do that. Yes they would lose the B&M market, but in the age of internet sales it may still be profitable. I could see this leading to other regulatory problems in the future though for internet sales or customs, which may even be the long term goal of the government and this is just a stepping stone to that.

However this shakes out, it sucks hard for the american consumer. I suppose all we can do for now is oppose the regulations, stock up on our favorites and hope for the best.