On Sunday, September 15th, the White House released a memorandum on its official website titled “President’s Memorandum on Major Drug Transit or Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries for Fiscal Year 2025,” blacklisting 23 countries including China as major drug transit or illicit drug producing nations.
The memorandum states, “We are taking unprecedented actions to disrupt the supply of fentanyl, other lethal drugs, and precursor chemicals. In the past two years, the amount of fentanyl seized by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at ports of entry exceeded the total of the past 5 years.”
It also mentions, “In just the past 5 months, the U.S. border has intercepted over 4.42 billion potentially deadly doses of fentanyl.”
Last Friday, September 13th, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, and Dr. Rahul Gupta, Director of National Drug Control Policy, urging them to continue diplomatic efforts to ensure that China cracks down on the flow of illegal fentanyl within its borders.
Schumer led a bipartisan congressional delegation to China last year and met with President Xi Jinping and other high-ranking Chinese officials. One of his top priorities during this visit was to urge China to take action to halt the flow of precursor chemicals for fentanyl, as these substances have contributed to the opioid crisis in the United States.
Nearly a year since his last visit, Schumer stated in his letter on Friday, “Fentanyl has caused immense destruction in our country, tragically impacting too many communities and claiming too many lives. When I met with President Xi, I directly conveyed to him the devastating impact of the opioid crisis on American families and informed him that China could take immediate action to cut off the supply of precursor chemicals fueling this crisis.”
He further emphasized, “The Biden administration must continue to approach this serious issue with full engagement. Too many lives are at stake.”
Schumer pointed out, “It is crucial that if there is no progress on these priorities, it is essential for the government to continue listing China as a major drug transit country or major illicit drug producing country for the 2025 fiscal year. The U.S. must take urgent, decisive, and meaningful actions to curb the fentanyl crisis.”
He urged the Biden administration to take more enforcement actions, maintain pressure, target Chinese companies, online markets, and individuals involved in illegal precursor chemicals and fentanyl trade, and publicly announce the outcomes of these actions.
He believes that such actions are crucial in curbing China’s illegal activities. He stated, “I have no doubt that if there is a genuine resolve to address this crisis, China can swiftly take action and enforce its own laws.”
President Biden noted in his memorandum, “Continued enforcement and regulatory actions will be necessary to significantly reduce China’s role as a source of precursor chemicals for illegal synthetic drugs that have a major impact on the United States.”
Since Biden signed an executive order in 2021 targeting foreign individuals engaged in global illegal drug trade, the U.S. government has sanctioned over 300 individuals and entities, cutting off their ties to the U.S. financial system. The U.S. Department of Justice has arrested and prosecuted senior cartel leaders and drug traffickers, putting them behind bars.