Schumer announces fentanyl sanctions bill before China talks

By MICHAEL BALSAMO
February 10, 2019

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate’s top Democrat is introducing legislation to “hold China accountable” and sanction laboratories and other traffickers who export fentanyl to the United States.

The bill, which will be introduced by Sen. Charles Schumer, of New York later this week, is likely to add to growing tension between the U.S. and China, days before Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will lead high-level trade talks in China.

In December, China agreed to label fentanyl, the deadly synthetic opioid responsible for tens of thousands of American drug deaths annually, as a controlled substance.

Schumer’s legislation — known as the Fentanyl Sanctions Act — would direct U.S. officials to publicly identify foreign opioid traffickers, would deny the traffickers visas in the U.S. and would prohibit them from doing business using American banks.

The bill aims to “hold accountable” fentanyl manufacturers in China and other countries that illegally drugs to the U.S., Schumer said. It could also be used to target transnational gangs and cartels involved in fentanyl trafficking, as well as banks that help those organizations, he said.

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