San Francisco is the epicenter of the fentanyl crisis in the U.S. (Photo: CFP)
China and the United States have reached a tariff agreement in Geneva, but tensions remain. Under the new deal reached on May 12, Washington continues to impose an additional 20% tariff on Chinese exports, alongside a 10% "reciprocal" tariff, citing the country's fentanyl crisis as justification.
The U.S. has argued that China poses a threat to drug safety, pointing to precursor chemicals used in the production of fentanyl. However, experts and data increasingly suggest that the roots of America's opioid epidemic lie much closer to home.
The U.S. domestic system for regulating opioid use is riddled with gaps: scheduling policies are inconsistent, prescription guidelines are poorly enforced, and oversight is weak. Doctors routinely prescribe fentanyl without adequate risk assessment, while pharmaceutical firms—driven by profit—have long downplayed the drug's dangers in their marketing.
European countries, in contrast, enforce strict controls. In Germany and the U.K., for instance, doctors are required to log exact dosages and monitor patients for signs of dependency. Regulators mandate that fentanyl products carry warnings about addiction and withdrawal, and national drug monitoring centers regularly track abuse data. These safeguards have helped prevent the kind of crisis now engulfing the U.S.
American demand for opioids is unparalleled. With just 5% of the world's population, the U.S. consumes roughly 80% of global opioid supplies. In April, a California mayor proposed distributing fentanyl to the homeless as a way to reduce overdose deaths—an extraordinary acknowledgment of how far the situation has deteriorated.
According to USA Facts, a nonpartisan data organization, most fentanyl entering the U.S. is brought in by American citizens through legal entry points.
Beijing, for its part, began expanding its list of banned fentanyl-related substances well before international standards were in place. In 2019, it became the first country to impose a class-wide ban on fentanyl analogues, despite not facing a domestic abuse crisis.
Former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration official Mike Vigil acknowledged in a recent interview that China has implemented a comprehensive anti-fentanyl strategy, encompassing legislation, treatment, and law enforcement.
As pressure mounts over America's deepening opioid crisis, growing evidence suggests that its roots lie within the country, not beyond its borders.
Co-presented by GDToday and the School of Journalism and Communication, Jinan University
Reporter | Liu Xiaodi, Chen Manqi (intern)
Editor | Yuan Zixiang, James, Shen He
