On Monday, March 9th, during the annual meeting of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) held in Vienna, the United States publicly criticized China for failing to effectively prevent the outflow of fentanyl precursor chemicals.
Sara Carter, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, directly called out the relationship between China’s chemical industry and drug trafficking groups.
“We know where the (fentanyl) precursors are coming from. They are being produced in China on a scale of millions of tons,” she stated.
Carter further criticized, “The weak export controls and lax enforcement by the Chinese Communist Party allow its chemical industry to connect with drug trafficking groups.”
She emphasized that, at the same time, the Chinese authorities have been very effective in controlling rare earth minerals, causing significant impact on legitimate industries.
Carter pointed out that fentanyl abuse in the United States has resulted in serious loss of life. Despite detecting enough fentanyl doses last year to cause 3.69 billion deaths, approximately 80,000 Americans still died from drug overdoses. In response, the U.S. has officially designated fentanyl and its precursors as “Weapons of Mass Destruction,” identifying drug trafficking groups as waging a “chemical warfare.”
In response to the accusations from the U.S., Chinese representative Gao Wei immediately refuted the U.S. remarks as “unrealistic” and “irresponsible,” and claimed that the U.S. was using the drug issue as an excuse for “unilateral bullying” and even “interference in other countries’ internal affairs.”
The confrontation at the Vienna meeting occurred before Trump’s visit to China at the end of this month. According to an agreement reached by Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea last year, the U.S. agreed to reduce some tariffs in exchange for China cracking down on illegal fentanyl trade, resuming soybean purchases, and maintaining stable rare earth exports.
Despite the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the 10% fentanyl tariff imposed by the Trump administration under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) last month, U.S. officials revealed that the government plans to reinstate the tariff using other legal provisions.
Carter also mentioned in her speech that under President Trump’s leadership, the U.S. is intensifying global anti-drug operations and making concrete progress. This includes launching the “Operation Southern Spear” in the Caribbean and successfully arresting former Venezuelan leader Maduro, as well as Mexican law enforcement recently killing drug cartel leader “El Mencho.”
The U.S. stated that it will continue to cooperate with allies to further combat criminal networks that hide drug and fund bases.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we are saving lives and strengthening the global response to the terror threat of drugs,” she said. “We must bring the fight to these criminal networks that hide drugs, store funds, transport deadly goods, and consider themselves the safest places.”