The Shocking Fentanyl Trade: China’s Unlikely Role in Saving America?

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In the eerie silence of a broken world, the beeping of overdoses echoes through North America. And China, the great empire of contradictions, might be stepping in to help? The Wall Street Journal reports that China could offer help in cracking down on the fentanyl trade—a potential pretext for starting trade talks with the U.S. If the deal goes through, we might find ourselves discussing trade tariffs while the lifeless bodies of overdose victims pile up. Over 80,000 lives lost in the U.S. in one year, and still, the fentanyl supply chain runs like a well-oiled machine.

China, of course, plays a key role in this very machine. According to anonymous sources from The Wall Street Journal, Beijing may propose a “cooperation on fentanyl” to get cozy with the Trump administration. Because, why not use a deadly epidemic as leverage to restart the trade talks? What’s more, Chinese chemical companies are reportedly exporting fentanyl precursors, giving the U.S. a helping hand—or more accurately, a deadly dose—via online consultations about how to synthesize the drug. How considerate.

President Trump, whose tariff war with China has been one of the defining battles of his time, might see fentanyl as an excuse to re-engage with Beijing. After all, what’s better than solving global conflicts—like Russia and Ukraine—while negotiating a little trade, right?

REPORTER: Will you be asking China to help you close the gap between Ukraine and Russia?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I think so. If we can get the fighting stopped that would be a great accomplishment. We’re trying very hard and I think we’re close.

— Bannon’s WarRoom (@Bannons_WarRoom) May 8, 2025

The Fentanyl Crisis: A Statistic-Orgy

The term “fentanyl crisis” isn’t just some catchy headline. It’s a brutal reality. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid used in medicine, is killing tens of thousands of people annually in the U.S. and Canada. It’s more potent than heroin, but less forgiving. In the 2010s, the drug transformed into a recreational killer. By 2022, fentanyl overdoses in the U.S. peaked at nearly 80,000 deaths—just think about that for a second. And in Canada? They had their own little death party with around 6,000 fentanyl-related deaths. Fun times.

And just for fun, let’s put things into perspective: At the height of this madness, Canada was losing one person per hour. The U.S. was losing one every seven minutes. Yet, somehow, this was not a war. No, it was a trade war. And in this surreal nightmare, two countries—China and Mexico—were the biggest suppliers of the poison. Canada’s Valerian Labs contributed its fair share too, all while wrapped up in trade tariffs.

The Fentanyl Supply Chain: Mexico, China, and Crypto

According to the DEA, China is the primary source of fentanyl flooding the U.S. market. The drug doesn’t just magically appear, mind you—it’s shipped from China to North America, often through Mexico. The problem is real, and it’s only getting worse. Two years ago, a Congressional committee confirmed that China is not just an unwilling participant; they are actively subsidizing the fentanyl precursors. And while they claim to be cooperating with U.S. enforcement, the evidence says otherwise.

“The PRC (People’s Republic of China) scheduled all fentanyl analogues as controlled substances in 2019, meaning that it currently subsidizes the export of drugs that are illegal under both U.S. and PRC law. [Some of the substances] have no known legal use worldwide.”

Yet, the Chinese government still denies any responsibility. They’ve got plausible deniability down to an art form. Meanwhile, the U.S. is fighting back with cries of “it’s a weapon of mass destruction,” as AG Pam Bondi dramatically pointed out, highlighting the lives of 18-34-year-olds being snuffed out by this unholy alliance.

AG Pam Bondi sounds the alarm: “People in China don’t get addicted to fentanyl because they’re shipping it to our country to kill 18-34-year-olds… It is a weapon of mass destruction in my opinion… They’re killing our kids and it’s got to stop.”

— Proud Elephant 🇺🇸🦅 (@ProudElephantUS) May 5, 2025

And here comes the wild card—cryptocurrency. Yes, that’s right: the same digital currencies that are used to facilitate this grim trade might also be the thing that helps expose it. The 2025 Chainalysis report reveals that while Bitcoin and Monero may be used to buy fentanyl, the blockchain also makes it easier for authorities to track these transactions. Who would have thought that crypto, the darling of the darknet, could actually be used to fight back against the very menace it helped create?

“While the cartel may have benefitted from speed, low transaction fees, and cross-border efficiency, their reliance on the blockchain has allowed investigators to trace these transactions more easily than would have been possible with traditional cash-based money laundering. Furthermore, it allows even greater disruptive potential, because issuers and centralized services typically have the ability to freeze assets when necessary.”

Conclusion: China’s Deadly Bargaining Chip

Will China actually dismantle its fentanyl supply chain? Who knows? But one thing’s for sure—it’s a hell of a bargaining chip for any future trade negotiations. As Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Cronin bluntly put it back in 2019: “It is a fact that if the People’s Republic of China wanted to shut down the synthetic opioid industry, they could do so in a day.” So, let’s wait and see. Maybe the trade war will come full circle, with a deadly drug crisis as the prize.

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2025-05-10 04:59