Experts slam US' reason for tariff hike

China has made relentless efforts and gained significant achievements in its combat against fentanyl and other illicit drugs, and the United States has no grounds for using the fentanyl issue to justify tariff hikes, officials and experts said.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement issued on Sunday that China has some of the strictest and most thoroughly implemented drug control policies in the world, adding that the country, which is also a signatory to three United Nations drug control conventions, has actively cooperated with the US and other nations to fight illicit drugs.

The remarks came after the US announced its decision to levy an additional 10 percent tariff on imports from China due to the fentanyl issue.

Voicing strong dissatisfaction with and firm opposition to the move, the spokesperson said that China has established extensive and pragmatic drug-control cooperation with the US in recent years.

Both sides have seen progress in substance scheduling, intelligence exchange, the cracking of specific cases, and other fields, the spokesperson said, highlighting China's scheduling of the entire class of fentanyl-related substances in 2019.

The scheduling, done at the request of the US, was a goodwill gesture even when there was no widespread abuse of such substances in China, the spokesperson said, adding that the move made China the first country to schedule the entire class of fentanyl-related substances.

Li Wenjun, a professor at the People's Public Security University of China, said that by scheduling the entire class, China placed under strict control the production, sale and use of fentanyl-related substances.

The scheduling has effectively targeted a variety of "designer drugs", which are basically synthetic drugs with slightly modified chemical structures tailored to escape regulation, Li said.

Since the scheduling, China has not received reports from the US about seizures of fentanyl-related substances originating from China, the spokesperson for the ministry said. The US, however, has not created a permanent schedule of the entire class of these substances, the spokesperson said.

China and the US stepped up their collaboration against illicit drugs last year, and a series of meetings in this regard were held.

In November, delegations from both countries attended the 10th China-US Bilateral Drug Intelligence Working Group Meeting in Shanghai.

During the meeting, they held in-depth exchanges and agreed to strengthen dialogue and communication on the basis of mutual respect, management of differences and mutually beneficial cooperation, according to the Office of China National Narcotics Control Commission.

In January 2024, the two countries launched the China-US Counternarcotics Working Group, which held its first senior officials' meeting six months later in Washington, DC.

China has also strengthened its regulation of illicit drugs over the past year. It added as many as 46 substances to its list of controlled drugs in July and regulated seven chemicals in September.

Li, the professor, said that China ranks among the top countries in its response to drug-related crimes, but the issue of fentanyl abuse in the US cannot be resolved by relying only on China's improvement of its drug regulation policies.

Wang Ruiyuan, an associate professor at the Criminal Investigation Police University of China, said the root of the US' fentanyl crisis lies in its long-term drug abuse issue.

Wang, who is also a researcher in anti-drug studies, said that China has shown great sincerity in cooperating with the US to address the fentanyl crisis even when China itself has not seen large-scale abuse of such substances.

The US, on the other hand, is politicizing the drug issue and using it as a "playing card" to serve its tariff policies, Wang said, noting that the move will hurt the foundation of its counternarcotics cooperation with China.

The issue of illicit drugs, including fentanyl, is a challenge for all humanity and requires collaboration among countries, Wang said, adding that any country blaming others for its own problems will only hamper such collaboration.

wangqingyun@chinadaily.com.cn