By imposing high tariffs on goods exported from Canada, Mexico and China, US President Donald Trump said he wants to force those three countries to restrict fentanyl, an opioid drug responsible for a major health crisis in the U.S.

The Republican accuses Beijing of failing to act to stop the trade in active ingredients used to make fentanyl, which US authorities say is responsible for more than 70,000 deaths from drug overuse in 2023.

China denies any responsibility

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid, 50 times more potent than heroin which is much easier and less expensive to manufacture. It is the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 45 years.

The US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) says China is “the primary source of fentanyl-related chemical active ingredients that are illegally imported into the US.”

In 2019, Beijing tightened controls, which has allowed direct trade to the US to be restricted. But according to the US Congressional Research Service, these chemicals are now being sent from China to Mexico, where fentanyl is manufactured before it enters the US illegally.

These substances are legal in China, where they are used to make analgesics, making it more difficult to legally prosecute traffickers.

China stresses that there is no “illegal trade in fentanyl” from its territory to Mexico, but also pledged to step up controls and recalled that it is “one of the world’s most stringent countries” on drugs.

The administration of Joe Biden, Trump’s predecessor, had made the fight against fentanyl one of its priorities.

In October, the Democratic former US president imposed sanctions on dozens of China-based individuals and entities, which he accused of being “the source” from which US drug traffickers, sellers on the dark web and Mexican cartels are supplied.

The group of these entities, consisting of companies based in Wuhan and other areas of mainland China and Hong Kong, is accused of shipping to Mexico and the United States a total of about 900 kilograms of fentanyl and chemicals, which were seized by authorities.

“The global fentanyl trade, which leads to the deaths of Americans, often starts in Chinese, chemical factories,” said Merrick Garland the then U.S. Attorney General.

Beijing has called those sanctions an unwarranted “pressure campaign.”

Previously, talks on combating drug trafficking between the US and China had been halted due to bilateral tensions.

However, during a November 2023 summit in San Francisco, US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Shi Jinping pledged to restart the talks.

A working group on drug trafficking met in Washington in the summer of 2024. At that time, China announced tighter controls on three active substances used to make fentanyl.

But experts believe traffickers are adapting quickly by creating new variants of the chemicals before they are even identified or brought into a regulatory framework.

Beijing is not cracking down hard enough on companies involved in the trade, according to Vanda Felbab-Brown, an expert on organized crime at the Brookings Institute.

“We are still a long way from indictments and prosecutions for money laundering or for sending chemicals to the Mexican cartels,” she added.

Trump seems determined to take a hard line on China, but there is no guarantee that imposing new tariffs will have the desired effect.

The Chinese foreign ministry had last year asked the US “not to take (Beijing’s) goodwill for granted”.

“China cooperates on law enforcement and the fight against drug trafficking with countries with which it has good relations (…) And with countries with which it has bad relations or with which relations are deteriorating, it refuses any cooperation,” Felbab-Brown said.

The problem is exacerbated by complex money laundering networks. Many experts stress that only through close cooperation between Beijing and Washington can the situation be changed.

“International cartels are increasingly turning to Chinese criminal organizations that specialize in fast, less costly and safer money laundering,” noted Zongwang researcher Zoe Liu in a report published in September by the Council on Foreign Relations.

As she stressed, “gaining Beijing’s support to stop the flow of illicit fentanyl and the chemicals to produce it is the first critical step in order to stop” the trafficking of this drug.