Fentanyl and its analogs kill approximately 70,000 Americans annually β more than guns, car accidents, or any other single cause of accidental death. The drug is synthesized primarily by Mexican cartels using precursor chemicals sourced predominantly from Chinese chemical companies, creating a diplomatic and law enforcement challenge that involves the two nations with whom the US has its most complex relationships.
The US diplomatic strategy has focused on three tracks simultaneously. With China, the Biden and subsequent administrations have pressed Beijing to schedule fentanyl precursor chemicals under domestic law, making their export a prosecutable offense in China. Beijing has made genuine moves in this direction, scheduling dozens of precursors and prosecuting several Chinese chemical company owners β but enforcement remains inconsistent and chemists continuously synthesize novel precursors that stay ahead of scheduling lists.
With Mexico, the relationship is more fraught. The US presses for greater cartel interdiction and extradition of cartel leaders; Mexico resists what it sees as violations of its sovereignty and pushes back on US weapons flowing south that arm the cartels. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has taken a harder line on cartel operations than her predecessor but insists on managing them through Mexican law enforcement rather than US-assisted operations.
Domestic demand reduction β addressing the pain, mental health, and despair that create fentanyl's customer base β is the strategy most public health experts consider most important and most underfunded.
