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Vanessa Cai

China this week announced a major crackdown on fentanyl precursors, a move widely seen as a gesture of goodwill ahead of President Donald Trump’s planned visit.
But analysts warned that while this might address one major US grievance, it remained to be seen whether the United States would reciprocate and help the two sides move on to tackling other serious disputes, such as tariffs.
The crackdown in the central province of Hubei started in December and included a raid on a company in the provincial capital Wuhan. It followed a tip-off from the US anti-drug authorities, who suspected the firm was selling precursor chemicals and stimulants.
The investigation is targeting the whole supply chain from production to export, state media reported.
As of last month, a dedicated task force was investigating 22 cases while seven people had been arrested and another 12 detained pending criminal investigation.
Four companies have received administrative penalties, while internet regulators have shut down more than 200 non-compliant company websites and removed over 400 illegal posts.
China is the primary global source of precursor chemicals used by drug cartels in countries such as Mexico to manufacture illicit fentanyl.


The issue has been a major concern for the US in its dealings with China, but cooperation between the two sides has been patchy since Trump’s first term of office and often dependent on the broader state of relations between the two countries.
Analysts said the announcement ahead of Trump’s visit – initially planned to start at the end of the month but now delayed for several weeks as the US leader focuses on his war with Iran – was an effort to ease tensions before his meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
Pang Zhongying, a professor of international relations at Sichuan University, said both sides needed tangible outcomes ahead of the summit.
But he warned that tariffs were still a major issue and it was not clear to what extent they could reach agreement.
“But China has already shown genuine sincerity. It now depends on whether the US recognises these efforts,” he said, adding that fentanyl was “no longer a critical obstacle in bilateral ties and it is gradually moving towards resolution”.
Beijing has periodically stopped cooperating with Washington to stop exports of the drugs used to make fentanyl at times of heightened tensions.
On returning to office in January last year, Trump first imposed a 10 per cent tariff on all imports from China and later doubled the rate, citing a lack of action to stop the export of fentanyl precursors.
The duties were later halved following his meeting with Xi in South Korea at the end of October in exchange for a renewed crackdown on fentanyl networks.


Last month, the US Supreme Court invalidated the 10 per cent fentanyl-related tariff, but Trump has since imposed a global 10 per cent tariff – and threatened to raise it to 15 per cent along with imposing additional levies.
Shi Yinhong, an international relations professor at Renmin University in Beijing, said similar efforts had been made in the past “with various degrees of seriousness”.
But he warned that when it came to tariffs, “China seems to have no illusions because of the newly launched US section 301 investigations”.
Last week, the Office of the US Trade Representative announced an investigation into alleged unfair trade practices by China and several other US trade partners using powers granted under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act.
Beijing has criticised the investigation, which could pave the way for further tariffs.


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US-China relations

China offers US olive branch with fentanyl raids ahead of possible Trump visit

China is a major source of the chemicals used to make fentanyl. Photo: Reuters

Chaos over Donald Trump’s China trip likely to further test Beijing’s patience with US

The White House’s current approach contrasts with that in 2017, when Donald Trump last visited China. Photo: TNS

Why did Donald Trump link the US fentanyl crisis to tariffs on China?

Drugs made using a pill press, a key piece of equipment that China has agreed to further controls on. Photo: Reuters

How will US-China ties fare with Trump calling fentanyl a ‘weapon of mass destruction’?

US President Donald Trump signs an executive order designating fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, as a weapon of mass destruction, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Monday. Photo: EPA

Seized packages of fentanyl and cash are displayed at the Atlanta Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 21. Photo: EPA

News

China

Diplomacy

Beijing has a long history of on-off cooperation over exports of precursor chemicals, often tied to the general state of relations with Washington


Beijing has a long history of on-off cooperation over exports of precursor chemicals, often tied to the general state of relations with Washington.


China offers US olive branch with fentanyl raids ahead of possible Trump visit

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Beijing has a long history of on-off cooperation over exports of precursor chemicals, often tied to the general state of relations with Washington

Beijing has a long history of on-off cooperation over exports of precursor chemicals, often tied to the general state of relations with Washington