US welcomes China’s expanded clampdown on ‘deadly poison’ fentanyl

Inclusion of variants of the opioid in China’s controlled drugs list from May 1 greeted as ‘significant development’ by US authorities

American politicians had called for tougher action from China, believed to be the main source of fentanyl in the United States

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The United States is struggling to address an epidemic of opioid use. Photo: AFP

Published: 1:32pm, 2 Apr 2019Updated: 2:14am, 6 Apr 2019

Washington welcomed China’s move on Monday to expand the range of fentanyl-related substances it defines as controlled narcotics, after criticism from President Donald Trump for allowing the synthetic opioid to be shipped to the United States.

The US is battling an epidemic of opioid-related deaths, and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has said he hopes to include China’s commitments to curb the drug in any agreement to end the two countries’ bitter trade war.

“This significant development will eliminate Chinese drug traffickers’ ability to alter fentanyl compounds to get around the law,” the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said in a statement.

“We look forward to our continued collaboration with China to reduce the amount of this deadly poison coming into our country.”

Earlier on Monday, China had announced the expanded control of fentanyl-related substances at a press conference, even as it blamed US culture for abuse of the drug.