Beijing (EFE).- China announced Monday a tightening of export controls on chemicals that can be used in the manufacture of synthetic drugs, particularly fentanyl, by adding the United States, Mexico, and Canada to the list of countries for which prior shipping licenses will be mandatory.
The measure takes effect immediately and also incorporates a specific list of 13 chemicals subject to special controls for these three countries, according to a joint statement from the commerce ministry and other agencies.
Exports to other destinations will not require authorization.
The ministry justified the measure as part of efforts to improve the management of the export of chemicals susceptible to diversion to prohibited uses.
The ministry has already applied similar controls to Myanmar, Laos, and Afghanistan, countries previously included on the list of destinations considered high-risk for the diversion of chemical precursors.
With the latest announcement , the US, Mexico, and Canada join this group, although with a different list of 13 compounds focused on piperidine derivatives, the basis of numerous synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.
The announcement follows the agreements reached this month between the presidents of China and the US, Xi Jinping and Donald Trump, during their meeting in the South Korean city of Busan, which included commitments on anti-drug cooperation and the easing of trade restrictions after months of tensions.
At that meeting, Beijing and Washington agreed to intensify collaboration to combat fentanyl trafficking, a synthetic opioid responsible for tens of thousands of deaths annually in the US, which, according to Washington, is manufactured by Mexican cartels from precursors originating in China.
The US president then announced that he would reduce tariffs on Chinese imports from 20 percent to 10 percent in retaliation for drug trafficking, as part of a one-year trade truce that also includes tariff reductions and the suspension of several Chinese export controls on strategic materials such as rare earth elements. EFE
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