FBI Director Kash Patel visited China last week to hold talks on fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid, and law enforcement cooperation, shortly after a summit between the US and Chinese presidents, where both emphasized “consensus” on the issue.
A person familiar with Patel’s trip told Reuters the FBI chief landed in Beijing on Friday and stayed there for about a day. He discussed the issues with Chinese officials the following day.
Neither the United States nor China officially announced the director’s visit to Beijing. Even Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Monday that he was unaware of the trip, Reuters reported.
China vows to stop the flow of fentanyl
China’s Ministry of Commerce announced Monday that the country will make changes to its catalog of drug-related chemical precursors and mandate a license requirement for the export of certain chemicals to the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The announcement came after US President Donald Trump halved fentanyl-related tariffs on Chinese imports from 20% to 10% effective November 10. The agreement was reached during his meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping last month.
Xi will “work very hard to stop the flow” of fentanyl, the deadly synthetic opioid that is the leading cause of overdose deaths in America, Trump told reporters after the meeting.
The fentanyl crisis has led to more than 112,000 overdose deaths in the US in 2024 alone, making it America’s number one cause of death for adults under 45. While pharmaceutical fentanyl treats severe pain, illegal versions are typically smuggled from labs in China and Mexico.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the details of the new consensus would be clarified through a new bilateral working group. However, it remains unclear whether Patel discussed this new mechanism during his recent visit to Beijing, Reuters said in a report.
What happened in the Trump-Xi deal?
The deal signaled a shift for the Trump administration, which has insisted that the punitive measures will remain in place until China can prove it has cracked down on fentanyl supply chains.
Chinese officials have repeatedly defended their record on fentanyl, saying they have already taken extensive measures to regulate the chemical precursors used to make the drug. They further claimed that Washington is using the fentanyl issue as a “blackmail” tactic, Reuters reported.
The Xi-Trump deal was not limited to the fentanyl issue and also included the resumption of US soybean purchases by China. In addition, Beijing agreed to suspend export restrictions it imposed in October on rare earths, elements that play a vital role in the manufacturing process of many modern technologies such as medical equipment, electric vehicles and smartphones.
