President Trump said Fentanyl smuggling in the United States is a key reason to impose prices in Canada, China and Mexico. But NPR found that Trump and his team made false statements on the fentanyl crisis. Canada, in particular, does not play any significant role in the American fentanyl-overdose epidemic.
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President Trump says that illegal street fentanyl is one of the main justifications to bring back the commercial prices it plans to impose against Canada, China and Mexico on Tuesday. A declaration published by the White House describes the synthetic opioid as fueling a “national emergency” which justified difficult action.
Experts say that reality is much more complex.
President Trump and his team denounced key facts on the fentanyl crisis
The day of the inauguration, Trump said that foreign drug cartels “kill 250,000 (or) 300,000 Americans per year”. Friday, the spokesperson for the White House, Karoline Leavitt, said that prices were justified because fentanyl “killed tens of millions of Americans”.
These statements are false.
Although the overdose epidemic is a serious crisis, law enforcement experts, research on drug policy and public health agree that street drugs have killed far fewer people.
Fentanyl became a central problem during the 2024 presidential campaign, despite evidence that the crisis was quickly improving. In the photo is an anti-drug sign at Leavenworth, Kan.
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During the most serious period of the opioid crisis, in 2022 and 2023, the total death of overdose – including fentanyl, methamphetamines, heroin, cocaine and all other drugs – culminated at around 114 000 deaths per year. And although the deaths by overdose of drugs were heartbreaking for many families, the deaths of fentanyl were not almost tens of millions of people.
The state and federal data also show that the crisis improved at an unprecedented rate before the announcement of these prices. The fatal overdoses of fentanyl and all other street drugs have dropped nationally by more than 21% since June 2023 approximately half a decade.
What role does Canada play in the American fentanyl supply?
Almost none. In its information sheet, the Trump administration claims that Canada has a “growing imprint” in the distribution of drugs with Mexican cartels active in the country. But experts in the application of laws and drugs are suitable that Canada plays a minimum role in fentanyl traffic in the United States
President Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met on several occasions during Trump’s first term. In his second term, Trump made fentanyl a flash point in the relationship, despite evidence that less than 50 pounds of fentanyl were introduced in smuggling in the United States from Canada in 2024. This is compared to 21,000 pounds smuggling in the United States from Mexico.
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During the remarks on Saturday evening, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that the smuggling of Canada contributes less than 1% of the supply of Fentanyl Street to the US Drug Drug Data Drug Administration supports Trudeau’s complaint.
In 2024, only about 43 pounds of fentanyl were seized on the northern border of America. This is compared to around 21,100 pounds seized on the southern border.
Before the announcement of these prices, the Canadian police had already moved to target and repress the producers of Fentanyl, in the hope of slowing down the overdose crisis occurring in their own country.
What role does Mexico play in the American fentanyl supply?
The Information sheet of the White House indicates that “Mexican drug trafficking organizations have an intolerable alliance with the government of Mexico”.
It is widely admitted that drug cartels in Mexico produce the vast majority of street fentanyls flowing in the United States, the previous Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, adopted a controversial approach to “hugs and not balls” Drug gangs. Most Cartel’s experts say they have managed to corrupt many government representatives.
Claudia Sheinbaum, president of Mexico, recently launched an anti-Pentanyl campaign aimed at discouraging citizens of her country from using drugs. According to experts, before President Trump announced prices against Mexico, Sheinbaum was already taking more difficult measures against drug cartels.
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But under the current Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum, application measures against drug gangs have increased, as is cooperation with US officials of law enforcement targeting cartels and their finances. According to the US Drug Encompement Administration, the quantity of fentanyl seized by the United States on the southern border plunged last year last year and the power of fentanyl pills also decreased.
What role does China play in the American fentanyl supply?
Law application organizations and government representatives in the United States agree that most so-called chemical precursors used to make the fentanyl in street fentanyl in China with drug gangs in Mexico. For years, the Chinese government has made American officials in the future by resisting efforts to target and disrupt this supply chain.
Under pressure from the Biden administration, however, Chinese officials implemented new regulations last year, helped repress money laundering by drug organizations and have made some arrests.
In October 2024, an increasing number of US officials and fenanyl smuggling experts told NPR that these measures finally occurred the fentanyl pipeline reaching American streets, which made the medication more difficult to find.
In a statement, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the American rates that should come into force on Tuesday would undermine cooperation against drug trafficking.
