Chinese and U.S. Fentanyl Crisis
The United States has a fentanyl crisis. Back in 2018, within 24 hours more than 70 people overdosed in a single Connecticut park on synthetic marijuana laced with fentanyl. Fentanyl is a highly addictive and potent chemical added to opioids that is 45-80 times more potent than heroin. Depending on the concentration in the distributed drug product, fentanyl can and has killed users almost immediately. The CDC estimated that in 2017 alone 28,400 of the 70,200 drug overdoses in the U.S. were attributed to fentanyl. But what is causing this fentanyl crisis?
There has been a consistent drug problem in the U.S. for decades. Each president has had their own response to the issue. Most recently, U.S. President Donald Trump has declared his war on drugs against Mexican cartels. However, the specific issue of fentanyl falls in the realm of Chinese and U.S. relations. According to a report issued by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, “China remains the largest source of illicit fentanyl and fentanyl-like substances in the United States.” This has become one of Trump’s foundational reasonings for his trade war with China.
China is the global source of fentanyl due to the loose regulation and monitorization of pharmaceutical chemicals. Chinese chemical exporters follow two channels of flow to transport the chemicals and fentanyl. One channel is through direct shipments of fentanyl from China to the United States. The other includes indirect shipments of chemicals to Mexico, which is then trafficked into the United States through drug cartels.
Trump has blamed China for the United States’ fentanyl problem claiming that they are ineffective at regulating drug production in their own country. However, Beijing argues that while they are willing to cooperate with the U.S. on diminishing illegal chemical sales to the U.S. they are not responsible for the issue. In a tweet, President Trump states “my friend President Xi [Jinping] said that he would stop the sale of fentanyl to the United States – this never happened, and many Americans continue to die.”
The issue of fentanyl is contributing to an increase in tensions between two of the world’s largest economic powers. As the U.S. continues to play a game of cat and mouse with cartels and dealers, China is holding steady on its position that drugs are not an issue in their country because the sentence for a convicted dealer is death. The difference in methods of conviction and investigation is a huge source of conflict for these countries. Up until recently, there was little cooperation between the two in addressing the issue. However earlier this month, Chinese authorities invited foreign media to a court hearing in northern Hebei province where members of a fentanyl production ring were handed severe sentences “in an overt show of commitment toward tackling an issue at the heart of President Trump’s criticisms of China.” The exposure of the production ring came from a U.S. Department of Homeland Security tip.
This may signal a positive shift in the tides of U.S. and Chinese relations, but in reality, the fentanyl issue runs even deeper. Following the recent conviction, Yu Haibin, a senior drug enforcement official in China spoke to the Washington Post about the U.S. claims that China is the source of their drug problems. He claimed that China is cracking down on fentanyl substances but the number of drug-related deaths in the U.S. is increasing, thus showing a lack of correlation between China and the U.S. drug issue. Meanwhile, packages of fentanyl are still being shipped through the United States Postal Service from Chinese producers. These two different dialogues are persistent in each country and are essential in feeding the nationalistic perspectives on the trade war.
The truth about the fentanyl crisis is that is reflective of an even greater problem the U.S. is facing – a shift in North American global politics. The three countries tied into the fentanyl channels of flow are the U.S., China, and Mexico. While Trump has gone after Mexico for drug cartels, immigration, and trade agreements, the U.S. relationship with Mexico is essential for maintaining the U.S. as the leading economic power in the region.However, with the flow of drugs from China to Mexico, there exists also an increase in the flow of funds from China to Mexico. Chinese companies are looking at Mexico as a strong investment in asserting influence over both North American and Latin American. As Trump continues to alienate itself with Mexico, China is becoming to seem like a more beneficial partner for Mexico. China is willing to invest more in the region than the U.S through supporting infrastructure and energy. If the trend of business sales between China and Mexican businesses and cartels continues to increase the U.S. will have a greater security concern south of their border than they think they have now. The U.S. is the most concern that Chinese influence in Mexico will force unfavorable trade agreements upon the U.S. and its trade allies in the region.
Overall, the fentanyl crisis between the U.S. and China is becoming more complex even as cooperation in closing down production rings increase between the two countries. As long as the trade war is on the line, focus on the issue will be directly correlated with trade concerns. As China begins to exert more influence over Mexico, the U.S. has an increasing security concern. Fentanyl is an issue reflective of a greater shift in political power happening in North American with China. If the U.S. continues to attack Mexico and alienate themselves from global participation, as has been seen under this administration, the U.S. will have to face a new North American political order.
