In order to combat China’s inaction on the fentanyl issue, the United States has imposed a 10% tariff on Chinese goods. However, the Chinese authorities have not shown any willingness to engage with the United States to resolve this issue. Analysts believe that fentanyl is essentially China’s modern-day “Opium War” against the United States, something that President Trump cannot tolerate, hence resorting to tariffs to pressure China.
On February 1st, the White House announced that due to the significant threat posed by illegal immigration and drugs, a national emergency has been declared, leading to a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10% tariff on imports from China. Soon after, Canada and Mexico expressed their intent to enhance efforts to prevent illegal immigration and fentanyl from entering the United States, which helped delay the implementation of tariffs.
However, China has not shown a willingness to communicate with the United States. Instead, they have imposed tariffs ranging from 10% to 15% on American energy products, agricultural machinery, and high-displacement vehicles.
President Trump stated on February 3rd, “I hope China stops sending us fentanyl, otherwise tariffs will be significantly increased. China will be punished.”
China has become the first and so far the only country to be subjected to tariffs during President Trump’s second term. If negotiations fail before February 10th, China’s tariffs on the United States will also have to be implemented.
Lai Rongwei, CEO of the non-profit organization Taiwan Inspiration Association (TIA), told Epoch Times that Xi Jinping wants to communicate with the United States. He is not at ease now. China’s economy has deteriorated significantly, and if it worsens, his regime may be at risk. “He just wants to appear calm, while also testing Trump’s bottom line. But I believe Trump will not give China too much time.”
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 30 to 50 times more toxic than heroin. Just two milligrams of fentanyl (about the size of a pencil tip) can be fatal.
Furthermore, fentanyl is increasingly being mixed with other illegal drugs, leading to fatal consequences for many unsuspecting users. Fentanyl is considered the main culprit behind the deaths of individuals aged 18 to 45 in the United States.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2023, over 74,000 Americans died after consuming mixtures of drugs containing fentanyl.
The US government has repeatedly accused China of being the major supplier of illegal fentanyl and its precursor chemicals. As early as Trump’s first term in 2017, the US increased pressure on the Chinese government to intensify efforts to combat fentanyl and its precursor chemicals. During the Biden administration, the US has also made similar demands to China.
China has seemingly made some cooperative gestures on the surface. In 2019, China classified fentanyl as a controlled substance and placed some chemicals used in fentanyl production on the controlled list. In November 2023, China and the US even established a dedicated working group to address the fentanyl issue. However, the fentanyl issue has not been resolved in reality.
In April of last year, the US House of Representatives Committee on China issued a report after months of investigation titled “The CCP’s Role in the Fentanyl Crisis.” The report found that China continues to subsidize drug manufacturing and described it as a national policy of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to use “state power” to produce drugs and harm Americans.
Of the illegal fentanyl flowing into the United States, 97% comes from China. Nearly all fentanyl precursor chemicals globally are produced in China. Since 2018, China has encouraged illegal production of at least 17 synthetic drugs, including 14 kinds of fentanyl or analogs, using tax incentives and sponsorships, and smuggling them to the US, Mexico, Australia, the UK, Germany, and other countries.
Westhoff, an investigative journalist, exposed China’s policy of subsidizing and encouraging production and export of highly lethal synthetic opioids like fentanyl. He infiltrated laboratories in China manufacturing these substances and published a book titled “Fentanyl, Inc.” in 2019.
The investigation revealed that since the book’s publication, China has scrubbed nearly all information regarding the subsidy program online. However, through analyzing Chinese government documents, collecting and analyzing data from 37,000 Chinese companies selling drugs online, undercover investigations into the operations of drug-trafficking companies in China, and consulting experts in the public and private sectors, the committee found that China’s policy of subsidizing the production and export of fentanyl and other drugs has continued to this day.
The investigation also discovered a covert Chinese government website listing tax incentives for exporting fentanyl and other synthetic drugs. While searching for “Fentanyl” in English yielded no results, entering product codes or Chinese characters for “fentanyl” revealed subsidy information. The report indicated that these substances are also illegal in China, which means that China is “funding illegal activities” by allowing government subsidies that lead Americans to addiction and death.
Furthermore, the report pointed out that the Chinese government provides sponsorships or incentives to chemical companies producing fentanyl precursor materials, with some of these companies being owned by Chinese prisons and others claiming to be state-owned enterprises while evading taxes.
In 2023, Xi Jinping and Biden held a summit in California and pledged to combat drug trafficking. However, the report highlighted that China has taken no action since then. Whenever US law enforcement provides evidence of fentanyl smuggling to the Chinese authorities, they not only fail to assist in investigations but also leak information to the smugglers.
Former US Attorney General William Barr stated at a congressional hearing last year that China is not sincere about eradicating fentanyl. The Chinese government has the capability to halt these activities. “This is not happening in the jungles of Burma; this is happening in modern, high-surveillance China.” With the click of a keyboard, within less than a minute, you can find the companies or individuals you are looking for. China knows who is selling fentanyl on the Internet. “The question is, are they complicit? Are they encouraging this behavior? I believe the answer is yes.”
Independent commentator Zhuge Mingyang believes that China is essentially waging a modern Opium War against the United States. He told Epoch Times, “Drug abuse is a longstanding global issue, causing countless individuals to lose everything, even their lives. However, China produces drugs as a state act, sending fentanyl and its precursors to the United States and other places. This is China’s way of defeating the US and dominating the world, a form of unrestricted warfare, a modern-day ‘Opium War.’ This is something Trump cannot tolerate; he is bound to use tariffs and other weapons to ‘defeat’ China.”
Well-known internet personality and veteran journalist Fang Wei also views this as China’s “Opium War” against the United States. When analyzing why China is reluctant to address the fentanyl issue on X platform on February 5th, he stated that producing fentanyl on an industrial scale in China is China’s contemporary Opium War against the US. It is a “national policy” aimed at poisoning American youth in an unrestricted warfare. Fentanyl causes the deaths of 60,000 to 80,000 people each year, exceeding the entire death toll of the Vietnam War (with over 58,000 US military personnel killed), essentially equating to China waging a Vietnam War against the US every year.