Trump says that the tariffs in Canada would fight against Fentanil’s trade, but a little comes across the northern border, the officials say
President Trump said part of his motivation to impose now paused tariffs In Canada, he was supposed to force the country to break the illegal trade of Fentanil – but very little synthetic opioid enters the US through its northern border.
White house Said the spokeswoman Karolina Leavitt Tariffs, announced on February 1 in Mexico, Canada and China, were “because of the illegal fentanis they received and allowed them to distribute to our country.” Mr. Trump said in a statement that “because of the great threat of illegal foreigners and deadly drugs, he was killing our citizens, including Fentanil.”
25% of tariffs on Mexico and Canada were Paused for at least one month After the negotiations, while 10% of tariffs on China remains in force.
The tariffs were also supposed to force the countries to take further measures to prevent unproven immigrants from entering the United States and to narrow their trade surplus.
Here’s what to know about Fentanil and other drug trade over the northern border of the United States.
How much fentali seized on the Canadian border?
US Customs and Border Protection Agents seized only 43 pounds of fentalis on the Canadian border last year, according to Statistics Publicly published by the Agency. Meanwhile, about 21,100 pounds of fentanis were seized at the Mexican border.
Researcher of drug policy Jonathan Caulkins They carried out analysis watching the large seizures of the fantanila – more than a pound of powder or 1,000 pills or more – and found such incidents in only two counties bordering Canada. One county is the House of the City of Detroit, and Caulkins said that the seizures of the drugs that were conducted there were proportional to its population. Only one area – Whatcom County, Washington – had the amount of drug attacks disproportionate to its population, Caulkins said.
Generally, Canada sees far less death than an overdose that includes Fentanil from the United States.
About 49,100 people died of an overdose of opioids in Canada between 2016 and 2024, with most of them Death that includes FentanilCanadian officials said. In the United States, centers for the control and prevention of illness estimated There were more than 74,000 deaths associated with Fentanil in only 2023.
How does Fentanil enter the United States?
Most of the fentali enters the United States via Mexico, the CBS News reported earlier. IN US Drug Implementation Administration He said Mexican cartels were “in the heart of” the fental crisis of the United States.
Caulkins analysis found 21 major seizures of the fentaline along the Mexican border for each such attack along the Canadian border.
Often, illegal drugs are transported across the southern border by US nationals passing through CBP checkpoints, Caulkins said. The US nationals usually employ smuggled groups, which in turn hired cartels and drug producers.
“Generally, it’s not like an employee of Cartel Sinalo walking across the border,” Caulkins said. The US citizens are less likely to be considered suspicious, he said, and they face fewer obstacles during the real border crossing.
Prekursor chemicals at the border
Precursor chemicals or ingredients used to make illegal drugs are seized by both Canada and Mexico as well as in the United States. Precursor chemicals They are mainly produced in China and are delivered abroad, usually in Mexico. Fentanil is then produced, again usually in Mexico, and brought to the United States for distribution.
In recent weeks of the Mexican authorities has announced several major seizures of chemical precursors and fental.
In November 2024. The Canadian police said they had dismantled the most sophisticated “Super Lab” drug that they have ever seen in the country. They said they had taken away the “massive” amount of chemicals of precursor from the facility in British Columbia, as well as 54 pounds, or about 110 pounds, fentaline, along with other medicines.
Police said they believe the laboratory is a place for mass production where fentanil and methamphetamine were made in order to be distributed in Canada and internationally. Officials did not say which countries may have been exported to.
In December 2024, Canada said his health agency He would create a “chemical risk management unit” that could “provide a better insight into” chemicals and their distribution channels. The unit could also “improve supervision and supervision” and enable the “timely action of law implementation” in connection with these chemicals. The unit was just one of several ways in which Canada said she would fight the fental crisis.
Health Canada should also accelerate its regulatory proceedings to ban the precursor “so that the border and implementation of the law can quickly take measures to prevent their illegal imports and use.”
