Relatives and friends died after taking photos of fentanyl, US family petitions to impose 50 billion tariffs on China

On the 17th, families of individuals who died from fentanyl overdoses petitioned U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, urging her office to take trade countermeasures. This comes in the wake of nearly 500,000 deaths from fentanyl overdoses in the past decade. The petition specifically calls for an investigation into China’s role in fueling the synthetic opioid crisis within the United States.

According to Reuters, the petition was filed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the federal government to sanction countries that violate trade agreements or harm U.S. business interests. The families are pushing for trade actions that could include imposing tariffs of at least $50 billion on Chinese goods.

China is one of the largest chemical producers in the world, and the petition accuses the Chinese government of failing to effectively combat the export of precursor chemicals used by drug traffickers to manufacture illegal fentanyl. This inaction has resulted in trillions of dollars in lost productivity for the U.S., increased healthcare costs, higher law enforcement expenditures, and the tragic loss of lives due to fentanyl overdoses.

A 2022 analysis by the Joint Economic Committee estimated that the opioid crisis alone caused nearly $1.5 trillion in economic losses in the U.S. in 2020. Government data reveals that approximately 75,000 people died from synthetic opioid overdoses last year, with the total deaths over the past decade nearing 500,000.

Section 301 gives the USTR the authority to investigate and protect U.S. interests from foreign trade practices that create “difficulties or restrictions” on American business activities. Any interested party can submit a petition, and the USTR is required to decide within 45 days whether to initiate an investigation.

A spokesperson for the USTR confirmed that the office is reviewing the petition. Nazak Nikakhtar, an attorney with Wiley Rein LLP representing the victims’ families, stated to Reuters that the issue of fentanyl addiction significantly hampers the U.S. workforce and economy, making it squarely within the USTR’s jurisdiction.