Overview

• The Biden administration has established a working group with the Chinese Communist Party to tackle the global narcotics and fentanyl crisis.
• Multiple U.S. government departments will collaborate with Beijing to counteract the production and trafficking of narcotics, especially fentanyl.
• China is primarily responsible for shipping fentanyl precursors to Mexico, where they are processed and trafficked into the U.S.
• The working group is part of broader efforts to combat synthetic drug threats and will facilitate bilateral communication and law enforcement coordination.
• Fentanyl, a highly addictive substance 100 times more potent than morphine, has resulted in over 105,000 deaths in the U.S. between February 2022 and January 2023.