China has said it is willing to do more to tackle concerns coming from the White house about illicit fentanyl trade.
However, an official from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned it will be “a different thing” if the ongoing debate over the drug initiates more U.S. tariffs on China.
The official also claimed the U.S. did not appreciate the efforts from China, and that the White House should have “said a big thank you” rather than raise duties on Chinese goods.
"But regrettably...the United States doesn't appreciate this kindness. On the contrary, it is using the fentanyl issue to spread all kinds of lies and has been smearing China, shifting the blame, regardless of the progress of the cooperation," said the Chinese spokesperson via a translator.
Fentanyl is a highly potent synthetic opioid approved for use as pain relief and for anaesthetics in medical practice.
It is around 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin as an analgesic, according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration.
President Donald Trump has time again suggested that tariffs placed on Mexico, Canada and China was an attempt to stop the flow of illegal fentanyl into the U.S., to combat the country’s crisis which has resulted in thousands of overdose deaths each year.
Data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed there were 89,740 fatal overdoses from fentanyl and all other street drugs in the 12 months to August 2024.
Trump also earlier this year threatened tariffs as a way to pressure the Chinese government into forcing Beijing-based ByteDance to sell TikTok.
A recent media inquiry by the Global Times to the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) found China has never exported fentanyl-related pharmaceuticals to North America.
The inquiry considered the production, operation, and export management of fentanyl-related substances in China and whether there is any issue of fentanyl-related substances leaking from legitimate enterprises.
A spokesperson told the Global Times that management of fentanyl-related medications have remained stable, with no illegal production or operation found in pharmaceutical enterprises, nor have fentanyl-related medications been discovered to flow into illegal channels from pharmaceutical production and business.
Earlier in March the Chinese government published a white paper publicizing efforts to curtail the production and export of fentanyl precursors over the last few years.
When questioned the Chinese official did not confirm or deny whether China would halt efforts as a result of the tariffs.
The U.S. and China had previously said fentanyl was one of the few areas in which the two countries could cooperate, with both sides holding dedicated talks in Beijing last year on the topic.
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