Why China is accused of contributing to fentanyl trafficking?

Photo: Patrick T. Fallon Agence France-Presse Fentanyl is the leading cause of death among Americans aged 18 to 45.

Peter Catterall – Agence France-Presse in Beijing

Posted at 10:32 a.m.

• United States

US President-elect Donald Trump is threatening to drastically increase tariffs on Chinese imports, in the face of Beijing’s supposed passivity regarding an opioid trade responsible for a serious health crisis in the United States.

The Republican tycoon accuses China of not doing enough to prevent the trafficking of fentanyl, a drug that has caused more than 70,000 overdose deaths in 2023, according to US authorities. Beijing says it is very proactive in the fight against this phenomenon. AFP takes stock of the situation.

What is fentanyl, and where does it come from? ?

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin and much easier and cheaper to produce.

It is the leading cause of death among Americans aged 18 to 45.

The DEA, the US Drug Enforcement Agency, says China is “the primary source of fentanyl-related precursor chemicals smuggled into the United States.”

Beijing tightened enforcement in 2019, reducing direct trafficking to the United States.

But according to the US Congressional Research Service, the precursor chemicals are now being sent to Mexico, where they are processed into fentanyl before being smuggled into the United States. clandestinely into the United States.

These compounds are often legal in China, where they are used in the medical field as painkillers, complicating legal proceedings.

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China says there is “no illegal fentanyl trafficking” between its territory and Mexico, but promises to tighten controls and reiterates that it is “one of the toughest countries in the world” against drugs.

What is the reaction of the United States??

The Biden administration has made the fight against fentanyl one of its priorities.

In October, the government sanctioned dozens of China-based entities and individuals accused of being “sources of supply” for U.S. traffickers, dark web vendors and Mexican cartels. The group, which includes companies in Wuhan, elsewhere in mainland China, and Hong Kong, is accused of shipping a total of 2,000 pounds of precursor chemicals to Mexico and the United States, which authorities seized.

“The global fentanyl trade that leads to American deaths often begins at Chinese chemical plants,” said Merrick Garland, the U.S. attorney general.

Beijing has called the sanctions an unjustified “pressure” campaign.

What agreements have the two countries reached??

Talks on the fight against drugs have been stalled by Sino-American tensions.

But at a summit in November 2023 in San Francisco, US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping promised to restart discussions.

A working group on drug trafficking met in Washington this summer. China has announced tougher controls on three key fentanyl precursors.

But experts say traffickers are adapting quickly, creating new variants of chemicals before they are even identified and regulated.

Beijing is not getting tough enough on companies involved in the trade, says Vanda Felbab-Brown, an organized crime expert at the Brookings Institution.

“We're still a long way from real indictments or robust prosecutions for money laundering or for sending precursors to Mexican cartels,” she says in a recent podcast.

Will tariffs work? ?

Donald Trump seems determined to take a hard line against China. But there is no guarantee that its tariffs will have the desired effect.

In response, China's Foreign Ministry said the country “remains willing to continue its anti-drug cooperation with the United States.”

But Beijing has also called on Washington “not to take China's goodwill for granted.”

Complex money-laundering networks complicate the problem. Several experts stress that only closer coordination efforts between the United States and China can address them.

“International cartels are increasingly turning to Chinese gangs that specialize in fast, cheap, and secure laundering services,” said researcher Zongyuan Zoe Liu in a report published in September by the U.S. research group Council on Foreign Relations.