The Trump administration looks set to spearhead another initiative likely to heighten diplomatic tensions.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused the Chinese and Mexican governments of playing a role in fueling the ongoing opioid crisis, saying the two countries will face penalties as a result.
The allegations came while Pompeo testified on Wednesday before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, during an exchange with Rep. Tom Marino (R-Pa.).
“Is there an aggressive plan to punish China and Mexico for flooding into the United States the extremely deadly drug fentanyl?” asked Marino.
“Yes,” replied Pompeo.
Marino didn’t ask any follow-up questions seeking elaboration from the Secretary of State, nor did any Democrats on the committee.
In January, the Senate committee on investigations said it unearthed 500 fentanyl sales from six outlets in China to the US, with a retail value of $766 million.
The opioid is highly profitable and dangerous. Fentanyl is estimated to be responsible for more than 26,000 deaths last year alone.
Chinese government officials, however, reject accusations of propping up illicit drug sales across the Pacific Ocean.
“The biggest difficulty China faces in opioid control is that such drugs are in enormous demand in the US,” said Chinese counter-narcotics official Yu Haibin, in an article published on Tuesday by Bloomberg.
In November 2017, Yu told the Associated Press: “China doesn’t deny that shipments to the US happen, but there isn’t the proof to show how much–whether it’s 20 percent or 80 percent.”
As far as Mexico’s alleged responsibility is concerned: much of the heroin consumed in the United States reportedly comes through Mexico. Heroin is commonly cut with fentanyl to increase potency while slashing costs to drug dealers.
The Trump administration has previously boasted of working with Mexican and Chinese officials to crackdown on both heroin and fentanyl.
“We work closely with our counterparts in Mexico and China, as well as with international organizations, to stop these drugs from reaching our borders,” the agency said in October 2017, while Pompeo was still Director of the CIA.
In recent days, the Trump administration has also heightened tensions with US allies–over the President’s decision earlier this month to violate the Iran nuclear deal.
“The Iran sanctions will go back in place, both the primary sanctions and the secondary sanctions,” said Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on Tuesday.
“And yes we’ve already communicated with our European partners, both through Secretary Pompeo and myself, that we will be enforcing the secondary sanctions,” he added.
