On April 2, the Chinese Consulate General in Chicago published an article titled China is not the scapegoat of the U.S. fentanyl crisis in the Chicago Tribune, an English mainstream media in the consular district. The original article goes as follows:

Recently, the U.S. government has twice levied additional tariffs on Chinese imports under the pretext of the fentanyl issue, which is unjustified and will do no good to anyone. The white paper Controlling Fentanyl-Related Substances - China's Contribution released on March 4 gives a comprehensive and in-depth view of China's position, measures and achievements on this matter.

China's scheduling measures outperform the international average, and its counternarcotics law enforcement has achieved remarkable results. The People's Republic of China has been relentlessly fighting against drugs ever since its founding in 1949, establishing complete legal and administrative systems for scheduled precursor chemicals. Relevant authorities have supervised all aspects of precursors of fentanyl-related substances in accordance with their duties. On May 1, 2019, China became the first country in the world to schedule all fentanyl-related substances, and placed five types of precursors on the control list later on. Since then, no further notification has been received from the U.S. regarding the seizure of such substances from China.

China attaches great importance to international cooperation and actively promotes global governance of fentanyl-related substances. China rigorously meets its international drug control obligations, has signed 50 inter-governmental documents on drug control cooperation with more than 30 countries and unions of countries, established annual meeting mechanisms with 13 countries, and joined multilateral drug control cooperation mechanisms. China actively promoted counternarcotics cooperation with the U.S. as well. Since the establishment of the China-U.S. Counternarcotics Working Group in January 2024, the two countries have convened multiple high-level meetings to promote bilateral dialogue and cooperation in drug control and law enforcement. The drug control agencies of the two countries have maintained daily hotline communication and regular exchanges. Up to now, with over 100 instances of information exchange, the two sides have achieved breakthrough progress in the collaborative investigations of multiple transnational cases.

China sympathizes with the families of American fentanyl victims, but the root cause of the U.S. fentanyl crisis lies in its immense domestic demand and regulatory loopholes. According to international practice, the responsibility for ensuring that non-listed chemicals are not used in drug production lies with the importing country, not the exporting country. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data have shown that the number of overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl-related substances, reached 75,000 in 2023, accounting for almost 70 percent of all drug overdose deaths. When the buying stops, the killing can too. The way out of the U.S. fentanyl crisis is to reduce domestic demands for drugs and strengthen domestic regulation.

The China-U.S. trade and economic cooperation is mutually beneficial and win-win, from which the U.S. has made huge profits. Trade wars and tariff wars will lead nowhere. The additional tariffs on China will ultimately be paid by American consumers. China stands ready to help the U.S. resolve the fentanyl issue on the basis of equality and mutual respect. The U.S. should cherish China's goodwill, stop pressuring and blackmailing China under the pretext of the fentanyl issue, and maintain the hard-won positive momentum in the China-U.S. counternarcotics cooperation.

Article Link: China is not the scapegoat of the U.S. fentanyl crisis