A bipartisan Senate duo is formally urging China to crack down on the export of chemicals that Mexican cartels use to manufacture fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid fueling the U.S. overdose crisis.
China stopped shipping fentanyl directly to the U.S. under pressure from the Trump administration in 2019 but is still shipping precursor chemicals to Mexico, prompting hand-wringing on Capitol Hill over the lack of cooperation from America’s southern neighbor.
Sens. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, and Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island Democrat, told the Chinese Embassy in Washington they won’t give Beijing a pass, either.
In a letter, the senators said China must share information about nonrestricted chemicals that flow out of the country, especially designer-precursor chemicals that can be used to make fentanyl; strengthen international labeling requirements so the products can be tracked; and implement “know your customer” standards so those involved in chemical transactions can fully identify each other and prevent diversion to the illicit drug market.
Roughly 70,000 of the 107,000 overdose deaths in the U.S. were linked at least in part to fentanyl in 2021, the most recent year for which complete data is available.
The U.S. government says nearly all of the finished fentanyl supply flows out of Mexico, often in the form of counterfeit pills that are taken by addicted people or unsuspecting users. Besides chemicals, the pill presses are supplied exclusively from China, government officials say.
“The Chinese Communist Party knows full well that its deadly chemicals are being used by Mexican cartels to infect our country and poison our citizens,” Mr. Grassley said in a news release Friday. “Anyone who participates in these deadly dealings ought to be held accountable.”
The letter to Xu Xueyuan, the charge d’affaires at the Chinese Embassy, strikes a more cooperative tone, saying the requested to-do items are within the contours of norms and international practices.
“If China were to take these actions, all of which are consistent with international practice, guidance and treaty obligations, it would greatly reduce the diversion of precursor chemicals used to manufacture illicit narcotics,” the senators wrote. “We thank you for your attention to this matter and look forward to working with you to address the manufacture, sale and export of precursor chemicals used to produce illicit narcotics, including fentanyl.”
U.S. officials say fentanyl ingredients also come out of India but that Indian officials are more cooperative in reining in the outflow of chemicals. They say the U.S.-China relationship, which is fraught generally, is a work in progress when it comes to corralling fentanyl.
China, meanwhile, has tended to blame soaring addiction rates in the U.S. as the driver of the overdose problem.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.