The Republican tycoon accuses China of not doing enough to prevent the trafficking of fentanyl, a drug that, according to US authorities, caused more than 70,000 overdose deaths in 2023. Beijing says it is being very proactive in combating this phenomenon. AFP provides an update on the situation.
What is fentanyl, and where does it come from?
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid 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 controls in 2019, which helped reduce direct traffic to the United States.
But, according to the U.S. Congressional Research Service, the precursor chemicals are now being sent to Mexico, where they are converted into fentanyl before being smuggled into the United States.
These compounds are often legal in China, where they are used medically as painkillers, complicating legal proceedings. China claims there are no "no illegal trafficking of fentanyl" between its territory and Mexico, but promises to strengthen controls and recalls that it is "one of the toughest countries in the world" against narcotics.
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What is the reaction of the United States?
The Biden administration has made combating fentanyl a priority. In October, the government sanctioned dozens of China-based entities and individuals accused of being "the source of supply" of American traffickers, dark web sellers and Mexican cartels.
The group, which includes companies located in Wuhan, elsewhere in mainland China and Hong Kong, is accused of sending a total of 900 kg of chemical precursors to Mexico and the United States, which were seized by the authorities. "The global fentanyl trade, which leads to the deaths of Americans, often begins in Chinese chemical factories," said Merrick Garland, the US Attorney General. Beijing called the sanctions an unjustified "pressure" campaign.
What agreements have the two countries concluded?
Talks on drug control have been hampered by tensions between China and the United States.
But at a summit in San Francisco in November 2023, US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping promised to restart talks. A drug trafficking working group met in Washington this summer. China announced tougher controls on three key fentanyl precursors.
But experts believe traffickers are adapting quickly, creating new variants of chemicals even before they are identified and regulated. Beijing is not cracking down hard enough on companies involved in this trade, according to Vanda Felbab-Brown, an organized crime specialist at the Brookings Institution, a US think tank.
"We are still far from real indictments or solid prosecutions for money laundering or for sending precursors to Mexican cartels," she says in a recent podcast.
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Will customs duties be effective?
Donald Trump appears determined to take a hard line against China. But there is no guarantee that his tariffs will have the desired effect. In response, the Chinese Foreign Ministry affirmed that the country "remains willing to continue its counter-drug cooperation with the United States." But Beijing also called on the United States "not to take China's goodwill for granted."
Complex money laundering networks complicate the problem, and many experts stress that only closer coordination between Washington and Beijing can address it. "International cartels are increasingly turning to Chinese gangs that specialize in fast, cheap, and secure money laundering services," says researcher Zongyuan Zoe Liu in a report published in September by the American research group Council on Foreign Relations.
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