President Donald Trump has imposed an additional 20 percent tariff on all goods made in China, citing a national emergency on the continued trafficking of fentanyl—a deadly opioid that is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine—into the United States.
To this day, China remains the primary source of fentanyl precursors, which are shipped to Mexico, where they’re manufactured into the illicit drug. It is then smuggled into the United States mainly via the southern border.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has called the fentanyl epidemic the United States’ “own problem” and has cast the U.S. tariffs as “blackmail.”
However, Yuan Hongbing, a former law professor at Peking University in China who now lives in Australia, said the American opioid epidemic is far from the self-inflicted wound the CCP has suggested it is.
The China expert, who has insider access to senior CCP leaders, further stated that fentanyl is at the core of Xi Jinping’s bid to “take revenge” on the West.
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Clips Played:
- President Trump Addresses House Republican Issues Conference via C-SPAN
About the Podcast:
“China Watch” is a weekly deep dive into the inner workings of Chinese politics, technology, and business, and how it affects Americans. Join Epoch Times contributor Terri Wu as she deciphers where China is headed next. Send tips to [email protected].