Tariff fight only worsens U.S. opioid epidemic

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With still two months ahead to enter the Oval Office, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump cannot hide his eagerness to combat drug abuse, a long-standing issue that is claiming a rising number of American lives.

Trump's problem-oriented attitude is welcomed, but his approach is problematic.

"We will be charging China an additional 10 percent tariff, above any additional tariffs, on all of their many products coming into the United States of America," Trump said on Truth Social, accusing China of failing to take adequate measures to curb the flow of illicit drugs into the United States.

The abuse of opioids is solely an American problem, but the U.S. is bent on blaming China. By imposing additional tariffs on China, Trump – in disregard of his country's incompetence in regulating opioids – attempts to pressure Beijing to stop the flow of illegal drugs. Such an approach cannot fix the U.S. opioid epidemic, which is largely self-inflicted.

America's abuse of drugs, particularly fentanyl, is not China's problem, nor was it caused by China.

In 2019, China became the first country in the world to officially put all fentanyl-related substances under control on humanitarian grounds. Currently, China regulates 25 types of fentanyl-related substances, exceeding the number controlled by the United Nations. Fentanyl-related substances are strictly controlled in the field of pharmaceutical production and circulation in China.

In contrast to U.S. allegations, China has been dedicated to helping the U.S. with the fentanyl issue out of humanitarian considerations. Last year, Beijing and Washington agreed to cooperate to curb fentanyl production. In 2023, China seized around 20 tons of drugs smuggled from abroad, up 85 percent year-on-year, according to the country's National Narcotics Control Commission.

Instead of blaming China, the U.S., if sincere in solving its opioid epidemic, should first look inward.

America's fentanyl crisis was triggered by various factors. To begin with, money politics has tremendously crippled Washington's capability in combating drug abuse. Faced with sizeable political donations from pharmaceutical tycoons, politicians, in most cases, choose to turn deaf to the public's calls for stricter drug control policies.

"Drug-makers have poured close to $2.5 billion into lobbying and funding members of Congress over the past decade," The Guardian reported in 2017, noting that American pharmaceutical companies have spent far more than any other industries to influence politicians.

According to the American magazine New Yorker, an opioid profit chain has formed in the United States. The American rehab industry pays doctors to distribute leaflets to patients – its source for potential customers. Pharmaceutical giants producing opioid painkillers pay politicians through political donations for lax drug control measures.

Everyone is happy to take a pie from this opioid chain. Doctors, drug companies and rehab centers cooperate for "multi-wins." For those who have the power to solve the opioid epidemic, political support from business tycoons is what matters. In this process, the health of the American people has become a casualty of greed and systemic failure.

To truly solve the drug crisis, tightening domestic prescription control is the first step. Tariffs on China have repeatedly proven to result in multi-lose results.

"About the issue of U.S. tariffs on China, the latter believes that economic and trade cooperation is mutually beneficial. No one will win a trade war or a tariff war," Liu Pengyu, the spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in the U.S., said on X.

"China remains ready to continue counter-narcotics cooperation with the U.S. based on equality, mutual benefit and mutual respect. We hope the U.S. will not take China's goodwill for granted and work to ensure that the hard-won positive dynamics in counter-narcotics cooperation will continue," China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated on Tuesday.

Since the San Francisco summit, the counter-narcotics authorities of China and the U.S. have resumed regular communication, and Beijing has notified Washington of the progress made in China's U.S.-related law enforcement operations against narcotics.

China has reiterated its willingness to cooperate with the U.S. on drug trafficking. How to tighten domestic drug control and carry out more effective cooperation with other countries is what the U.S. president-elect should ponder on. A tariff fight will instead make America's opioid epidemic into a terminal illness.

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