Lawmakers examine China's role in the fentanyl crisis

Steve Yates, a senior Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, testified on how his 23-year-old daughter died of fentanyl poisoning in October 2023.

“This crisis has claimed the lives of over half a million Americans in the last decade – it’s not simply a drug issue, it is a national security emergency,” Yates told the committee.

Yates called on lawmakers to enact legislation that attacks financial incentives for drug dealers, similar to what the U.S. did after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He said counterterrorism strategies can be used as leverage in negotiations.

Witness David Luckey, director of the Rural America Partnership Initiative (RAND), proposed key actions the U.S. can take to reduce the exportation of fentanyl supply.

Luckey recommended strengthening relationships, anticipating shifts in the supply chain, mandating international reporting of exports, enhancing international cooperation and communication, and developing trustworthy and reliable law enforcement relationships in Mexico.

Luckey argues the U.S. needs to strengthen sanctions on China and close the gaps by focusing on increased investigations, indictments and sanctions. He also called for the U.S. to establish direct engagement with Chinese authorities; create incentives for criminal enforcement and reporting of noncompliance; regularly press the PRC for improvements; and increase inspections and improve detection at Chinese borders.

However, Zongyuan Zoe Liu, a senior fellow for the China Studies Council on Foreign Relations, provides an alternative viewpoint for the crisis. She explained how China- linked chemicals and finances make illicit fentanyl “easier to produce, cheaper to scale, and harder to stop.”

She said these traffickers do not operate on one fixed recipe but rather move the narcotics through different commercial channels, and when they can no longer control one, they shift to another strategy.

“Congress therefore needs adaptive enforcement, not static checklist,” said Liu.

She told lawmakers on the committee that the real problem is not where the drugs are going but rather a “serious supply chain governance failure in China.”

Liu proposed three recommendations: oversight, multilateral enforcement, and financial disruption. She argues that channels and leverage must work together rather than pressure, in order for true change to happen.

Chairwoman Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., asked the witnesses what the next step Beijing should take to show it is in good faith working with the U.S. on the issue.

“At some point, we have to draw the conclusion that we're dealing with essentially a mafia that's not getting out of the business,” Yates said. “It’s only going to change if we are making it have to adjust its behavior.”

Ultimately, Yates said the U.S. must recognize it cannot negotiate with China on this issue, and it must be willing to find and enforce a solution to the fentanyl crisis.