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Xiaofei Xu

Sylvia Ma

China tightened its controls on the export of fentanyl precursors to the United States, Canada and Mexico, adding two new chemicals to its list requiring export licences on Tuesday, one day ahead of President Xi Jinping’s announced visit to the US.
China’s Ministry of Commerce, together with four other government agencies, added two N-phenethyl piperidine esters to part one of China’s Catalogue for the Administration of Exports of Precursor Chemicals to Specific Countries (Regions), according to a statement from the ministry.
The list now includes 18 chemicals, all of which could be used in fentanyl production. The licensing requirement for these substances applies only to North America, with a separate section covering 41 chemicals bound for Myanmar, Laos and Afghanistan.
The news came on the day before Xi is set to depart for the US on his highly anticipated state visit. Fentanyl has been a core issue in US-China trade negotiations since the Trump administration returned to power last year.
US President Donald Trump raised the issue again in a letter of determination to the US Congress published on Wednesday, urging Beijing to take “more aggressive action” to reduce the flow of fentanyl precursors.
Washington has been publishing an annual list of major drug transit and illicit drug producing countries – known as the Majors List – for decades. The latest version, issued last week, named 23 countries including China.
Trump’s letter recognised China’s efforts, making reference to the export licensing regime that was introduced last year. Washington reduced its fentanyl-related tariffs from 20 per cent to 10 per cent in November.

But Trump noted that China continued to be “the world’s largest producer of many of the precursor chemicals used to illicitly produce fentanyl, methamphetamine and other deadly synthetic drugs”, adding that he had raised the issue directly with Xi.
During Trump’s visit to Beijing in May, both leaders discussed the need to do more to curb the flow of fentanyl precursors to the US, according to a statement published by Washington following the visit. China’s readout from the meeting, however, did not mention any such discussions.
At a congressional hearing in June, witnesses described Chinese money laundering networks as the financial fuel behind Mexican cartels and pressed Trump to raise the issue directly with his Chinese counterpart. The testimony pointed to money laundering as a distinct strand of the fentanyl trade, alongside the supply of precursor chemicals.
Efforts to tackle the drug issue have been mounting in the build-up to Xi’s US visit.
China’s Ministry of Public Security announced on September 10 that it had worked with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation on a transnational case involving the manufacture and trafficking of synthetic cannabinoid precursors. The ministry called it proof that the bilateral counternarcotics law enforcement mechanism was operating efficiently and a visible result of closer cooperation between the two countries’ agencies.
FBI Director Kash Patel also travelled to Beijing in July to meet with China’s public security minister, Wang Xiaohong, for talks that focused on cracking down on fentanyl precursors.


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Two more chemicals added to export control list days after US president calls for ‘more aggressive action’


Two more chemicals added to export control list days after US president calls for ‘more aggressive action’.


China tightens control on more fentanyl precursors ahead of Xi-Trump meeting

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Two more chemicals added to export control list days after US president calls for ‘more aggressive action’

Two more chemicals added to export control list days after US president calls for ‘more aggressive action’