In 2023, some 74,000 Americans died after ingesting drug mixtures containing fentanyl, according to the US Centers for Disease Control. Many of these drugs were purchased through social media platforms by people, frequently children, who thought they were buying Xanax, or Percocet, or Adderall, or any number of other, often counterfeit medications that turned out to contain a lethal amount of Fentanyl. Just two milligrams can cause a fatal overdose.
Most of the precursor chemicals used in the production of fentanyl are manufactured in China. They are shipped in a powdered form to pill manufacturers and distributors. Mexican drug cartels are some of the biggest customers for this product.
Indeed, almost all fentanyl enters the United States from Mexico, although a small percentage also comes south from across the Canadian border. According to a written White House statement, “There is also a growing presence of Mexican cartels operating fentanyl and nitazene synthesis labs in Canada. A recent study recognized Canada’s heightened domestic production of fentanyl, and its growing footprint within international narcotics distribution.”
This is one of the main reasons why the Trump administration imposed a raft of tariffs on China and threatened Mexico and Canada with the same.
“Both Canada and Mexico have allowed an unprecedented invasion of illegal fentanyl that is killing American citizens,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“Canada, Mexico and China ... have all enabled illegal drugs to pour into America. The amount of fentanyl that has been seized at the southern Border in the last two years alone has the potential to kill tens of millions of Americans.”
Calling the fentanyl crisis an extraordinary threat that “constitutes a national emergency under the International Emergency Economic Powers, the statement stated that “Until the crisis is alleviated, President Donald J. Trump is implementing a 25 percent additional tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10 percent additional tariff on imports from China.”
“Access to the American market is a privilege. The United States has one of the most open economies in the world, and the lowest average tariff rates in the world,” said the statement. But “Tariffs are a powerful, proven source of leverage for protecting the national interest. President [Donald] Trump is using the tools at hand and taking decisive action that puts Americans’ safety and our national security first.”
