China Must Fix Fentanyl Flow Before US Trade Talks, Senator Says

A US senator said following meetings with top Chinese officials that Beijing needed to take action on stopping the flow of fentanyl precursors to the US before further talks on trade.

“It’ll be difficult to have any conversation about tariffs and non-tariff barriers until the fentanyl precursor issue is resolved,” Steve Daines, a Montana Republican, said in a telephone interview with Bloomberg News on Sunday. 

Daines — who was an intermediary for President Donald Trump during his first-term US-China trade war — met in Beijing with Chinese leaders including Premier Li Qiang, Vice Premier He Lifeng and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ma Zhaoxu. He said the Chinese side understands the US’s request to not just slow but to stop the flow of fentanyl precursors to the US. 

“President Trump’s position was heard loud and clear and the Chinese received that,” Daines said. “They understood it and we’re hopeful that we’ll see decisive actions taken to stop the flow of these precursors.”

Trump has ramped up a trade fight with China since returning to office, imposing a fresh 10% tariff on Chinese goods in February and adding another 10% in March. China retaliated with levies on a slew of US farm products and suspended soybean imports from three US entities.

Chinese officials say the US hasn’t outlined detailed steps expected to remedy its role in the illegal fentanyl trade, which Trump cited as the reason for tariffs. Trump’s team rejects that assertion, saying they expect the People’s Daily newspaper to run a front-page article condemning the fentanyl trade and Beijing to hand the death penalty to smugglers.

Daines said the next step will be conversations between the two administrations and a potential meeting between President Xi Jinping and Trump before the end of the year.

“There’s a desire from both sides to have the high-level meeting. There’s just isn’t a date yet,” he said. 

The US president has repeatedly signaled a willingness to meet Xi, saying last week that the Chinese leader will visit Washington in the “not too distant future,” though Beijing responded by saying it had “no information” to share.

Premier Li said during his meeting with Daines on Sunday that no country’s development and prosperity can be achieved by imposing tariffs, but only by opening up and cooperation, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. Li reiterated that there is no winner in a trade war and that he hoped the US and China can communicate frankly, build trust and deepen practical cooperation.

Daines — who worked in China and Hong Kong in the 1990s as an executive for Procter & Gamble Co. — was joined in his meeting with Li by top US executives visiting Beijing for the annual China Development Forum. They included FedEx Corp. CEO Raj Subramaniam and Boeing Co. Senior Vice President Brendan Nelson, along with top officials from Cargill Inc., Pfizer Inc. and Qualcomm Inc.

In addition to fentanyl, Daines said he also raised the issue of expired export licenses for US beef producers that require renewal. 

Daines also said he’d like to arrange a bipartisan delegation of US senators to China later this year after David Perdue is confirmed as ambassador to the country.

With assistance from Colum Murphy.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.