China says that he is willing to cooperate with the United States in Fentanyl

Beijing – China is willing to do more to address the White House concerns about the illicit trade in Fentanil, but it will be “something different” if the ongoing debate on the drug facilitates more US tariffs in the second largest economy in the world, an official of the China Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the Wednesday journalists.

Washington should have “said a great thanks” to China for what it has done to restrict the fentanyl trade in the US., Said the official through an official translation of English, claiming that the White House did not appreciate the effort and, instead, increased the tasks of Chinese products twice this year on the drug.

Since he assumed office in January, the president of the United States, Donald Trump Increase in tariffs on Chinese products by 20% On the basis of the supposed role of the country in the Fentanyl crisis of the United States. The addictive drug, precursors that occur mainly in China and Mexico, has taken tens of thousands of overdose deaths every year in the United States.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comments from CNBC.

Earlier this month, the Chinese government published a White paper To advertise their efforts to reduce the production and export of fentanyl precursors in recent years. The official did not answer a question about whether China would stop his recent efforts to restrict said trade.

According to the Biden administration, the United States and China had said that fentanil was one of the few areas in which the two countries could cooperate. Both sides He made dedicated conversations in Beijing Last year on the subject.

Trump indicated earlier this year that you could also use tariff Deadline of early April remain available in the US.

Trump had emphasized tariffs as a way to reduce the United States trade deficit with China during his first presidency. Just before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the two parties reached a “phase one” commercial agreement that required Beijing to increase their purchases of US goods. US data shows that The commercial deficit with China It was reduced to $ 295.4 billion in 2024, of $ 346.83 billion in 2016, just ahead of Trump’s first mandate.

But the differences in trade have continued since the beginning of January of the second mandate of the White House leader. The effective average rate of the United States in Chinese products will now reach 33%, compared to around 13% before Trump began his latest mandate, according to the estimates of the main economist of Nomura in China Ting Lu.

Beijing has responded to the latest American tariffs with specific duties about energy and agricultural products, while hardening the restrictions in critical mineral exports that the United States needs. The China Ministry of Commerce has also added several American companies, mainly in Aerospace or Defense, to lists that limit their ability to do business with China.

The official of the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that China’s countermeasures were “legitimate actions” to protect their own interests.

Allianz estimates that additional tariffs of 20% of the United States on Chinese products would achieve China’s growth in 0.6 percentage points this year and next. But the company still expects the Chinese economy to grow 4.6% this year and 4.2% in 2026, depending on the assumption that the stimulus can mitigate the tariff impact.

“I tend to say that retaliation is not so strong, perhaps leaving space for negotiations,” said Francoise Huang, a senior economist of Asia-Pacific and global trade in Allianz Trade, in a CNBC interview last week.