President Biden will urge the Chinese leader Xi Jinping to take action against Chinese firms involved in producing fentanyl, a potent drug responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans. This will be a significant focus of Mr. Biden and Mr. Xi’s meeting, happening alongside an international conference in San Francisco.
China’s chemical industry, which produces various compounds for pharmaceuticals, fragrances, and other products, is a key player in the illegal production of fentanyl. U.S. officials claim that China’s chemical industry supplies the bulk of materials used in illegal drug labs, including in Mexico, which is now the largest exporter of fentanyl to the United States.
The Chinese government denies its pivotal role, attributing the drug crisis to factors such as pharmaceutical marketing, over-prescription by doctors, and ineffective government crackdowns. However, the U.S. has seized more fentanyl in the past two years than in the previous five years combined. Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids have resulted in over 77,000 overdose deaths in the United States between May 2022 and April 2023.
Getting China to address the fentanyl issue would have significant resonance with Americans. However, the extent to which an agreement could curb fentanyl flow into the U.S. remains uncertain. Previous efforts, including China’s 2019 prohibition on fentanyl-related drugs, have resulted in new production sites and rerouting of drug supply.
Enforcement is complicated by online sales, legal use of precursor chemicals in other industries, and fragmented regulation and enforcement in China. The U.S. has sanctioned individuals and China itself for fentanyl trafficking, and implementing strategies to combat fentanyl and synthetic drugs remains a top challenge for U.S. authorities.
U.S. officials believe China’s cooperation is crucial due to its dominance as a chemical producer. This issue has become a bipartisan concern in Congress, and there is hope for improved coordination between the U.S. and China. However, past sanctions and political tensions have hindered counternarcotics coordination between the two countries.
Globeblognews urges to halt Fentanyl Trafficking to the U.S.
