WASHINGTON — A group of families whose loved ones died of fentanyl overdoses filed a petition with the office of U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai on Thursday, requesting a probe into China’s alleged role in fueling the U.S. synthetic opioid crisis.
The petition was filed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, a statute that allows the U.S. to impose sanctions on foreign countries that violate trade agreements or hurt U.S. commerce. The families are seeking trade countermeasures that include tariffs of at least $50 billion on Chinese merchandise.
China is the world’s leading chemical producer. The petition alleges that China’s government has failed to crack down on exports of precursors used by traffickers to manufacture illicit fentanyl, inaction that has cost the U.S. trillions of dollars in lost productivity, higher health care costs, increased law enforcement spending, and loss of life due to fatal overdoses from the synthetic drug.
A 2022 analysis by the congressional Joint Economic Committee estimated that the opioid crisis cost the U.S. nearly $1.5 trillion in 2020.
Overdoses from synthetic opioids killed nearly 75,000 people in the U.S. last year alone and are approaching a half-million fatalities over the past decade, government figures show.
Section 301 empowers the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to investigate and defend the U.S. against foreign trade practices, including action that “burdens or restricts” U.S. commerce. Any interested person can file a petition, and USTR must decide within 45 days whether to initiate a probe.
A USTR spokesperson said the agency is reviewing the petition.
Nazak Nikakhtar, an attorney at the Wiley Rein law firm who filed the petition on behalf of the families, told Reuters the issue was “squarely” within USTR’s legal authority given the debilitating effects of fentanyl addiction on the American workforce and the U.S. economy.
Reuters investigations this year have revealed that Chinese chemical companies openly sell fentanyl-making ingredients on the internet and ship them to the U.S. with ease, thanks, in part, to an obscure U.S. trade regulation, known as de minimis, which allows low-value packages to enter the U.S. duty free and with minimal paperwork and inspections.
The petition recommends a variety of trade countermeasures, including imposing tariffs of at least $50 billion on Chinese goods and services, and banning Chinese shipments from entering the U.S. via de minimis.
Andrea Thomas, one of the plaintiffs on the petition, said she hoped the trade action would save lives by forcing China to stop exporting fentanyl precursor chemicals.
“There’s been so much devastation to our families,” said Thomas, whose daughter died in 2018 after taking a fentanyl-laced pill she thought was a painkiller.