BEIJING: China imposed export controls on Friday (May 22) on three precursor chemicals shipped to North America, as Washington and Beijing step up cooperation against drug trafficking following US leader Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing.
The chemicals will now require licences from government agencies to be exported to the United States, Canada and Mexico, China’s commerce ministry wrote in a statement.
China is the primary origin of precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl, a highly potent opioid underpinning a deadly drug epidemic in the United States.
Washington had maintained a 10 per cent tariff on Chinese goods in retaliation for China’s alleged role in the fentanyl supply chain.
The new restrictions come a week after Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump sought to stabilise turbulent relations during talks in Beijing.
Combating drug smuggling has emerged as an area of cooperation between the rival superpowers.
The news follows cooperation on a drug trafficking case in April, where authorities collaborated on investigations spanning China’s Guangdong and Liaoning provinces, and the US states of Florida and Nevada, state news agency Xinhua said.
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