President Donald Trump has imposed steep tariffs on a wide range of Chinese goods, citing Beijing's failure to stop exports of chemicals used in the production of the powerful opioid fentanyl.
The US has long accused Chinese corporations of knowingly supplying groups involved in the production of this drug.
Beijing retaliated by imposing tariffs on American goods.
The White House also accused Canada and Mexico of failing to prevent criminal gangs from smuggling fentanyl into the US.
Tramp is planned to impose tariffs on both countries, but he backed down from those threats when he received some concessions regarding enhanced border security.
- Fentanyl, a synthetic heroin, is causing death in Mexico as well, spilling over from America
- The godmother of cocaine and the queen of crime: Grizelda Blanco and the drug lords of Latin America
- British "Fox" tricked us into smuggling drugs, sailors claim
How serious is the fentanyl crisis in the US?
Fentanyl is a synthetic drug made from a mixture of different chemicals.
US regulators approved it for medical use as a painkiller in the 1960s, but it has since become the main drug responsible for numerous opioid overdose deaths in the US.
More than 74.000 Americans died in 2023 after taking a drug mix containing fentanyl, according to data the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
It is often mixed with other illegal drugs, which is why many users are unaware that the substances they are taking contain fentanyl.
A dose of just two milligrams of fentanyl - about the size of a pen tip - can be fatal.
Over the past decade, the global fentanyl supply chain has expanded, making it harder for law enforcement agencies and politicians to catch up.
China is the primary source of chemicals used to produce fentanyl.
How serious is the fentanyl crisis in the US?
Since September last year, 2.040 kilograms of fentanyl have been seized in the US, according to data provided by the announced by the US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP).
Almost all of the quantity (98 percent) was intercepted at the southwestern border with Mexico.
Less than one percent was seized across the northern US border with Canada.
The rest arrived by sea or through other American checkpoints.
According to the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Mexican criminal organizations, including the Sinaloa Cartel, play a key role in the production and delivery of fentanyl, methamphetamine and other illegal drugs to the US.
The chemicals used to make fentanyl arrive from China via smugglers and are converted into the final product in laboratories in Mexico, before being smuggled into the United States.
According to the DEA, the Sinaloa Cartel uses a variety of tactics to conceal shipments coming from Mexico, such as hiding chemicals among legitimate merchandise, falsely labeling containers, using front companies, and shipping through third countries.
The Trump administration has accused the Mexican government of colluding with drug cartels.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo called the claims "slander."
In December, shortly after Trump threatened Mexico with tariffs, the country's security forces announced they had made the largest seizure of fentanyl ever - the equivalent of about 20 million doses.
- The amount of fentanyl seized is enough to kill the entire population of America
- How the Albanian mafia operates in Latin America and how far its tentacles reach
- Why it's hard to stop the flood of drugs made in China
China is the main source of chemicals for fentanyl
China classified fentanyl as a controlled narcotic in 2019, and later added some of the chemicals used to make it to the same list.
Despite this, the trade in other chemicals involved in the production of fentanyl, some of which may have legitimate uses, remains uncontrolled, as those involved in the trade find new ways to circumvent the law.
A study of several US indictments, which contained details of undercover agents communicating with Chinese manufacturers, shows that some chemical companies in China are selling chemicals, including controlled substances, with the knowledge that they are intended to make fentanyl.
A dozen indictments reviewed by the BBC's fact-finding team allege cases where Chinese manufacturers gave instructions on how to make fentanyl from products they sold, via encrypted platforms and cryptocurrency payments.
"So you have huge loopholes that criminals are using to sell legal products, but they are knowingly selling them to criminal entities," says Wanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow for foreign policy at the Brookings Institution.
In a statement, China said it has some of the strictest drug laws in the world and has conducted joint operations with America in the past.
"The US needs to look at and solve its own fentanyl problem," she said.
While China remains the main source of chemicals used to make fentanyl, the DEA has also identified India as a new major source of these chemicals.
In a January 2025 US indictment, two chemical companies from India were accused of supplying America and Mexico with chemicals used to make fentanyl.
- Matthew Perry's death reveals Hollywood's ketamine "Wild West"
- Mapping the global opioid addiction epidemic
- The link between the turmoil in Ecuador and the world drug trade
Canada's role in the fentanyl trade
President Trump accuses Canada, along with Mexico, of allowing "tremendous numbers of people to come into America, just like fentanyl."
According to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol data, only about 0,2 percent of all fentanyl seizures entering the U.S. are made at the Canadian border, with almost all the rest seized at the U.S. border with Mexico.
But in January, Canada's financial intelligence agency said organized crime groups in Canada were increasingly involved in the production of fentanyl by importing the chemicals used to make it and laboratory equipment from China.
The fentanyl trade goes both ways.
In the first 10 months of 2024, the Canadian Border Service reported seizing 4,9 kilograms of fentanyl that entered from the US, while the US Border Patrol intercepted 14,6 kilograms of fentanyl that arrived from Canada.
In December, the country pledged to allocate $900 million to combat fentanyl and to strengthen border controls.
Additional reporting: Lucy Gilder
- Sex, drug cartels and plastic surgery: "My body is yours if you pay for the surgery"
- "I repent": Wife of notorious Mexican criminal El Chapo sentenced to three years in prison
- Showdown of the cartels in Mexico: Locals are fleeing en masse
Bonus video:
