America is facing a massive crisis that’s hitting families hard — a deadly wave of fentanyl overdoses. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid initially created to help with severe pain, is now wreaking havoc. It’s shockingly potent — 50 times stronger than heroin and far cheaper to make. Last year alone, fentanyl claimed 75,000 lives in the U.S.
President-elect Donald Trump, set to take office in January, says he knows where the problem starts: China. Trump has vowed to impose harsh trade tariffs on China to force action against the production and supply of fentanyl. He’s also targeting Mexico and Canada, claiming they allow drugs and illegal immigrants to pour into the U.S. like never before.
On his Truth Social account, Trump announced plans to slap extra tariffs — 10% on Chinese goods and 25% on products from Mexico and Canada. He criticized China for not doing enough to stop the flow of illegal fentanyl into America, calling past efforts to tackle the issue “ineffective.”
But China isn’t accepting the blame. Beijing points out that back in 2019, it became the first country to fully regulate fentanyl-related substances. The Chinese government also highlights years of cooperation with the U.S. in fighting the fentanyl trade. Still, the problem has grown, and seizures of the drug in the U.S. have hit record levels.
So, where is this fentanyl coming from, and how did things get this bad?
Fentanyl is a man-made opioid used for pain relief in medical settings, but on the streets, it’s a killer. It’s often mixed with other drugs like heroin or cocaine, sometimes without users even knowing, making it even more dangerous. Every day, fentanyl takes the lives of over 200 Americans — that’s like a packed airplane crashing daily. It’s now the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 45.
The crisis didn’t explode overnight. Fentanyl first appeared in the U.S. in the 1970s under the street name “China White.” In the 2010s, its illegal production surged. Much of the fentanyl in the U.S. today doesn’t come directly from China anymore. Instead, China supplies the raw chemicals needed to make fentanyl. These chemicals are shipped to Mexico, often disguised as everyday items. Once they arrive, Mexican cartels cook up fentanyl in secret labs and smuggle it into the U.S.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has labeled China as the main supplier of these chemicals, linking the rise in fentanyl-related deaths to Chinese exports.
China argues that the U.S. should look inward. A spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry recently said, “The root cause of this overdose crisis lies within the U.S. itself.”
Efforts to fight fentanyl together have been complicated by political tensions. Back in 2019, during Trump’s first term, China took a big step by regulating fentanyl substances, a win for U.S.-China cooperation. But relations soured after a 2022 diplomatic clash involving Taiwan, and China cut off communication channels with the U.S., including those focused on narcotics. Talks restarted in 2023, with President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreeing to tackle the issue together.
Since then, China has tightened control over fentanyl precursors and cracked down on chemical shipments. Both nations have also pledged to combat the money laundering that fuels the drug trade. Still, the crisis continues, with Chinese and Mexican criminal networks playing major roles in the illegal fentanyl pipeline.
Meanwhile, U.S. border officials have been seizing record amounts of the drug. Under President Biden, about 21,900 pounds of fentanyl were confiscated in the 2024 fiscal year — a huge jump from 2019, when just 2,545 pounds were seized.
This epidemic is a heartbreaking reminder of how fentanyl has transformed America’s drug crisis into an emergency. Families are losing loved ones at an alarming rate, and the fight to stop this devastating tide continues. Whether Trump’s trade tariffs can make a dent in the problem remains to be seen.
