Trump's tariff threats include China again — but this time it's about drugs
U.S. accuses China of knowingly allowing fentanyl precursors to flow to Mexico, which Beijing denies
President-elect Donald Trump signalled on the campaign trail that tariffs and border security are his top priorities. In addition to promising hefty tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods on Monday, he also targeted China, accusing Beijing of not taking strong enough action to stop the flow of illicit drugs.
Trump outlined "an additional 10 per cent tariff, above any additional tariffs" on imports from China, in some of his most specific comments on how he will implement his economic agenda since winning the Nov. 5 election on promises to "put America first."
Trump accused China of not taking strong enough action to stop the flow of illicit drugs crossing the border into the U.S. from Mexico. He also accused Beijing of reneging on a promise to impose capital punishment for drug traffickers, without elaborating.
"Representatives of China told me that they would institute their maximum penalty, that of death, for any drug dealers caught doing this but, unfortunately, they never followed through …," Trump posted on Truth Social, his social media platform.
A bipartisan report issued in April by the U.S. House of Representatives' select committee on China defined that nation as the "ultimate geographic source" of the fentanyl crisis. The report alleges that Beijing provides tax rebates to Chinese companies that export fentanyl chemicals.
Beijing slams 'sanctions, smears and slander'
The Chinese embassy in Washington hit back against Trump's vow.
"Sanctions, smears and slander against China will only undermine the foundation of China-U.S. counter-narcotics co-operation," the embassy said in a statement.
The embassy has cited steps it said China had taken since a 2023 U.S.-China meeting after which Beijing agreed it would stem the export of items related to the production of fentanyl, an opioid that is a leading cause of drug overdoses in the United States.
"China believes that China-U.S. economic and trade co-operation is mutually beneficial in nature. No one will win a trade war or a tariff war," said embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu.
The embassy said the allegation that China is "knowingly allowing fentanyl precursors to flow into the United States" defies reality.
Chinese officials have previously said the U.S. should focus on curbing demand at home instead of blaming outsiders for the fentanyl epidemic.
Trump cabinet pick keen on China tariffs
Trump has previously pledged to end China's most-favoured-nation trading status and slap tariffs on Chinese imports in excess of 60 per cent, much higher than those imposed during his first term.
Howard Lutnick, Trump's pick to run the Commerce Department and oversee the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, said in a podcast interview in October that "China is attacking America" with fentanyl and suggested that Trump might levy tariffs as high as 200 per cent on China.
What's not yet clear is if Trump is willing to move beyond tariffs on Chinese goods and take stronger actions, such as hitting Chinese banks with sanctions over fentanyl.
Trump's past disputes with Beijing have centred mostly on China's huge trade surplus, not synthetic opioids. Trump expressed admiration for Chinese President Xi Jinping even as U.S. overdose fatalities soared.
'Paradigm shift' in 2019
Over the past decade, more than 400,000 Americans have died of synthetic opioid overdoses. Tens of thousands in Canada also died from opioid drug toxicity during the same period.
Beijing began tightly controlling all fentanyl-related substances in May 2019, effectively ending exports of the finished product.
While it looked like a diplomatic breakthrough for the first Trump administration, China's chemical makers simply pivoted to exporting fentanyl ingredients to Mexico's cartels, which took over manufacturing of the synthetic opioid, Mexican and U.S. authorities say.
Mexico, not China, became the face of the scourge, even as Chinese chemicals remained its heart.
"That's when the big paradigm shift occurred," said Mike Brown, a former special agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) who now hosts The Opioid Matrix, a podcast focusing on the illegal drug supply chain.
Trump's tariffs could threaten ongoing work undertaken by the Biden administration, as the U.S. and China have initiated quarterly online meetings between scientists to share information on emerging drug threats.
Beijing this year also made good on a pledge to regulate three major fentanyl-making chemicals — 4-AP, 1-boc-4-AP and norfentanyl — as required under its obligations as a member of a United Nations commission on narcotics.
The U.S. has pressed China to require its chemical sector to vet customers and better monitor where their exports are going.
"We really want them to have their industries know who they're selling to, and do a better job of telling the world who's getting these chemicals on the other end," said Todd Robinson, assistant secretary for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs in the U.S. State Department.
Supporters of Biden's approach to engagement note a Centers for Disease Control report that said synthetic opioid deaths dropped by nearly 19 per cent from the previous year.
Public health experts believe some of that drop is due to the administration making overdose-reversal medication widely accessible for street use. Biden administration officials say the U.S. should continue expanding such treatments at home, while patiently engaging China diplomatically abroad.
With files from CBC News