When US President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China on Saturday, he cited that “the extraordinary threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs including deadly fentanyl” posed a national emergency that required tariffs be slapped until the crisis was abated.
“The orders make clear that the flow of contraband drugs like fentanyl to the United States, through illicit distribution networks, has created a national emergency, including a public health crisis,” the White House said in a statement.
The White House added that Chinese officials have failed to curb the supply of precursor chemicals to criminal cartels or crack down on money laundering by transnational crime groups.
The press statement added that the Mexican drug cartels have formed an alliance with the Mexican government, allowing them to manufacture and transport narcotics, contributing to hundreds of thousands of overdose deaths in the US, which threatens the nation’s security.
Additionally, it said, Mexican cartels are expanding operations in Canada, with fentanyl and nitazene synthesis labs increasing, and Canada’s domestic fentanyl production is rising, further fuelling the international drug trade. It said,
Last fiscal year, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) apprehended more than 21,000 pounds of fentanyl at our borders, enough fentanyl to kill more than 4 billion people.
But what is fentanyl? And how has it grown to spawn a crisis calling for such stringent actions by the US? Invezz takes a look:
What is fentanyl?
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine.
It was originally developed for medical use, mainly for treating severe pain (such as cancer pain or post-surgical pain), but has since become a major driver of the opioid crisis due to its illicit production and abuse.
Medical fentanyl is prescribed by doctors in patches, injections, or lozenges for pain relief.
However, illicit fentanyl, manufactured illegally is often mixed with heroin, cocaine, or fake prescription pills, leading to accidental overdoses.
How many Americans have died due to fentanyl?
According to the National Centre for Health Statistics, drug overdoses are one of the leading causes of injury death in adults and have risen over the past several decades in the United States.
The overdoses involving synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, and stimulants like cocaine and methamphetamine, have also risen in the past few years.
In 2023, the agency reported 105,007 drug overdose deaths, translating to an age-adjusted rate of 31.3 deaths per 100,000 people.
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that synthetic opioids (primarily fentanyl-related substances) may have resulted in more than 61,800 US overdose deaths between August 2023 and July 2024.
However, a report released by the CDC in November last year, said overdose deaths declined by roughly 14% from June 2023 to June 2024.
“While these data are cause for optimism, we must not lose sight of the fact that nearly 100,000 people are still estimated to be dying annually from drug overdose in the US,” Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse said in a BBC report.
Role of China and Mexico in the fentanyl supply chain
China is the main supplier of precursor chemicals needed to manufacture fentanyl.
According to a DEA Intelligence report, China remains the primary source of fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances trafficked through international mail and express consignment operations environment, as well as the main source for all fentanyl-related substances trafficked into the United States.
Despite China’s efforts to regulate fentanyl analogs and two fentanyl precursors between 2018 and 2019 under intense U.S. diplomacy, the scheduling has not been enough to curb the flow of fentanyl into the United States.
Rather, it has mostly led to shipments being rerouted through Mexico.
These chemicals are then used by Mexican cartels to produce fentanyl.
At present, most US-destined illicit fentanyl appears to be produced clandestinely in Mexico, using chemical precursors from China, a Congressional Research Service report of December 2024, said.
The Sinaloa and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) are the primary and “most dangerous” transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) in Mexico.
They use pill presses, often imported from China, to lace counterfeit medication, including veterinary medication, with fentanyl or methamphetamine.
Some counterfeit medication reportedly is sold in pharmacies along the US- Mexico border and in touristic regions, the report said.
Reports claim the Mexican government has failed to crack down on cartels, allowing them to operate with impunity.
Role of Canada in the fentanyl supply chain
Coming to Canada, the country was initially mainly a transit point for fentanyl shipments.
However now, there is increasing domestic fentanyl production, with Mexican cartels operating fentanyl and nitazene synthesis labs in Canada.
Canadian authorities have warned of a growing black market for fentanyl production within the country.
In January, the Edmonton Court of King’s Bench in Canada sentenced one Jonathan Loyie to 16 years in prison for his role as an executive member of a large-scale fentanyl production and trafficking operation.
“Wholesale dealers in fentanyl put Canadians, especially the most vulnerable members of our society, at risk of death or other grievous harm. Their only concern is the ability to make large sums of profit from other people’s misery. They are directly part of the source of the supply chain…,” George Dolhai, Director of Public Prosecutions, said.
Steps taken by previous US governments along with China to crack down on fentanyl
Trump’s first administration pressured China to classify fentanyl as a controlled substance, leading to China banning all fentanyl analogs in May 2019.
In 2021, former president Joe Biden Signed executive orders expanding sanctions on fentanyl traffickers, including Chinese and Mexican entities.
In 2023, the Biden administration reached a new agreement with China to resume cooperation on fentanyl precursor tracking.
Last summer, a counternarcotics working group convened in Washington and China announced it would step up its regulation of three key fentanyl precursors.
“Overall, as with other countries such as Australia, China subordinates its counternarcotics cooperation to the geostrategic relationship with the United States,” Vanda Felbab-Brown, an expert on organised crime at the Brookings Institution, said.
This means that China would be less willing to work with the US on stopping fentanyl trafficking if US-China relations worsen.
“Fentanyl is America’s problem,” China’s Foreign Ministry said responding to the tariffs. “The Chinese side has carried out extensive anti-narcotics cooperation with the United States and achieved remarkable results.”
Beijing will challenge Trump’s tariff at the World Trade Organization (WTO) – a symbolic gesture – and take unspecified “countermeasures” in response to the levy, which takes effect on Tuesday, China’s Finance and Commerce Ministries said.
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