What Happened?
Fentanyl, the synthetic opioid behind tens of thousands of American overdose deaths each year, no longer arrives directly from China in large quantities. According to a new Congressional Research Service (CRS) report, China has become the main source of the precursor chemicals that transnational criminal organizations use to make fentanyl in third countries, chiefly Mexico.
The CRS, the nonpartisan research arm of Congress, published a China Primer: Illicit Fentanyl and China's Role report examining that shift and the questions Congress may take up in response.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates synthetic opioids caused about 37,393 overdose deaths in 2025, down roughly 52 percent from a peak of 77,695 deaths recorded from July 2022 through June 2023.
Why Does it Matter to Me?
China has become the main source of the chemicals criminal groups use to make fentanyl, mostly in Mexico, according to a new Congressional Research Service report.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 directs at least $150 million toward countering trafficking in fentanyl, precursor chemicals, and other synthetic drugs targeting flows from China and Mexico. That is money taxpayers are spending on a supply chain the CRS report finds has not been fully shut down.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) closed its offices in Shanghai and Guangzhou in 2024 without public explanation.
Both Sides, Now
The Trump administration has pursued both pressure and diplomacy. An executive order issued in December 2025 designated illicit fentanyl and its core precursor chemicals as Weapons of Mass Destruction. Following an October 2025 summit between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, China agreed to stop shipments of certain designated chemicals to North America and placed export controls on 13 fentanyl precursor chemicals in November 2025.
The Chinese government has argued the core problem is U.S. demand, not supply, and that punitive U.S. tariffs "dealt a heavy blow" to counternarcotics cooperation. A March 2025 State Department report found China's enforcement "remains uneven and opaque" and that China "has in many instances not acted against companies selling non-scheduled fentanyl and other precursor chemicals." The DEA announced indictments in October 2024 alleging that China-based chemical companies and employees continued to manufacture and distribute fentanyl-related substances; those are charges, not findings of guilt.
What Happens Next?
The CRS report identifies three areas Congress may examine: whether current counternarcotics funding is sufficient; whether to conduct oversight of the Drug Enforcement Administration's office closures, a reporting requirement under the BUST Fentanyl Act in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026, and money-laundering enforcement; and whether to assess what the Weapons of Mass Destruction designation means for cooperation with China and other countries, including Mexico.
China completed scheduling all fentanyl precursors listed by an international narcotics control body in June 2025, and the DEA assessed that some Mexico-based fentanyl producers may already be struggling to obtain key precursors as a result.
Will Congress use its oversight and funding powers to close the remaining gaps in the fentanyl precursor supply chain?
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