Among U.S. President Donald Trump’s first actions after returning to office in January 2025 was imposing new tariffs on Canada, China, and Mexico, which he accused of sending fentanyl to the United States. The allegation against Canada was completely unfounded. China’s role in the story, however, is more complex. Beginning in 2015, the U.S. opioid overdose epidemic accelerated dramatically with the arrival of fentanyl imported at first directly from China and later manufactured in Mexico using cheap, Chinese-produced chemical precursors. In 2000, 17,000 people in the United States died of drug overdoses, with only about 780 involving synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. Two decades later, fatal drug overdoses reached 92,000. By mid-2023, that figure had peaked at 111,000 over the previous 12 months, and 70 percent involved fentanyl. But unexpectedly, in June 2023, these gruesome numbers began to plummet.…