The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is offering tax breaks to fentanyl exporters to bring more of the deadly drug into the US, a blockbuster congressional report has revealed.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 108,000 Americans died from overdoses in 2022, the majority of which were from synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.
That is far more American deaths than occurred during the entire twenty-year war between the US and Vietnam.
During the same period, there were reportedly zero deaths from fentanyl overdose in China.
The House Select Committee on the CCP released a report report ahead of a Tuesday morning hearing on the issue, which shows how the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has been offering tax breaks to fentanyl exporters since at least 2018.
“The CCP provides government subsidies to Chinese companies that produce fentanyl analogs, precursors and other synthetic narcotics, as long as those companies sell them outside China,” outgoing Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., said during Tuesday’s hearing.
The Chinese Communist Party has provided tax breaks to exporters of fentanyl ingredients
A homeless man injects fentanyl in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District, near City Hall
Chinese-made fentanyl ingredients are usually sent to Mexico, where they are prepared in pill and powder form for consumption in the U.S.
‘The subsidies come in the form of discounts on VAT.’
“The CCP uses VAT rebates to dramatically increase exports from China for other goods. We now know that the same applies to illegal synthetic narcotics.’
The report found that at least 17 chemical compounds, including multiple types of fentanyl, MDMA (commonly known as ‘Molly’) and PCP were all products eligible for sales tax rebates.
Some rebates for fentanyl producers were as high as 13 percent.
The report also shows that the CCP is directly involved with some of the fentanyl-producing companies.
It details how certain government agencies, such as a PRC-run prison and a publicly traded Chinese company, are both involved in fentanyl trafficking.
“The United States has known for a long time — and I certainly knew it as attorney general — that the People’s Republic of China is the source of the fentanyl that is slaughtering Americans,” former Donald Trump Attorney General Bill Barr testified.
“The number of deaths from fentanyl is equivalent to a full Boeing 737 crashing every day,” he added
The daily number of deaths from fentanyl overdose in the US averages around 200, comparable to the capacity of a commercial airliner.
“Some may find it difficult to believe that a modern state would be so complicit in the campaign of mass murder of the citizens of another country. But the committee’s work now provides strong evidence that it does,” Barr said.
Lawmakers noted during the hearing that many of the activities surrounding fentanyl production are illegal in the People’s Republic of China, including cryptocurrency trading, which is favored by Chinese fentanyl sellers.
This cryptocurrency trading has also led to the rise of major money laundering schemes in the PRC that have led to the enrichment of criminals and China’s chemical sector, according to the report.
“The United States has known for a long time — and I certainly knew it as attorney general — that the People’s Republic of China is the source of the fentanyl that is slaughtering Americans,” Donald Trump’s former attorney general, Bill Barr, testified.
Fentanyl is cheaper and more addictive than other opioids such as heroin and morphine. It is also completely synthetic, making it easier to make and distribute.
The report proposes establishing a task force to combat and disrupt the opioid supply chain, and strengthening sanctions against the People’s Republic of China.
“The People’s Republic of China and the CCP have the ability to stop this,” Barr said.
“There’s no question they know what’s happening, and they’re aware of the details.”
‘The question for me is whether they are involved, whether they are actually complicit in the efforts to encourage it. And I think the answer is yes,” Barr said.