US outlines agreement with China to curb fentanyl chemicals as tariffs ease

US President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday disclosed further details about its agreement with China on the control of fentanyl precursors, key ingredients in the production of the drug that kills tens of thousands of Americans each year.

Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel said in a regular White House briefing that China has agreed to control seven chemical subsidiaries that are used to produce the lethal drug, after Beijing’s export control decision announced on Monday, which targeted more than a dozen fentanyl precursors.

“The Chinese government agreed on a plan to stop fentanyl precursors,” Patel said of his trip to China last week.

“These substances are now banned, and they will no longer be utilised by the Mexican drug trafficking organisations or any other [drug trafficking organisations] around the world to make this drug,” the FBI director said.

“Essentially, President Trump has shut off the pipeline that creates fentanyl that kills tens of thousands of Americans.”

Patel arrived in Beijing on November 7 and stayed for about a day, Reuters reported last week.