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Tag: fentanyl

Canada appoints Kevin Brosseau to serve as fentanyl czar

Canada appointed a fentanyl czar on Tuesday in accordance with a deal made with U.S. President Donald Trump to avoid additional tariffs on Canadian imports.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau chose Kevin Brosseau, who spent decades with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, for the position aimed at working with the U.S. to “detect, disrupt and dismantle” the fentanyl trade. His appointment is effective immediately.

Brosseau has extensive law enforcement experience, having served as deputy commissioner and the commanding officer in Manitoba during his career as a Mountie. He most recently worked with Trudeau as his deputy national security and intelligence advisor.

“Mr. Brosseau navigated Canada’s most sensitive security challenges. His demonstrated expertise tackling drug trafficking, organized crime networks, and other national security threats will bring tremendous value to this position,” Trudeau said in his announcement.

TRUMP AGREES TO PAUSE TARIFFS ON CANADA IN EXCHANGE FOR MORE BORDER ENFORCEMENT

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed former Mountie Kevin Brosseau to serve as the country’s fentanyl czar. (Kevin Brosseau / X)

Brosseau’s appointment comes days after Trump threatened to impose an additional 25% tariff on Canadian imports, citing the flow of illegal aliens and drugs, such as fentanyl, across the northern border.

Trump agreed to a 30-day pause on the tariffs in order to assess Canada’s response to his demands, which revolved around creating a stronger border.

In addition to appointing a fentanyl czar, Trudeau said the country will implement a $1.3 billion border plan that utilizes Black Hawk helicopters, drones, mobile surveillance towers and nearly 10,000 frontline personnel to protect the U.S.-Canada border.

Canada is implementing a border plan worth $1.3 billion to bolster law enforcement’s presence and crackdown on the fentanyl discovered at entry points. (Cole Burston/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

He also said organized crime cartels will be listed as terrorist entities in order to enforce criminal investigations in Canada.

TRUDEAU SAYS TRUMP IS SERIOUS ABOUT CANADA BECOMING 51ST STATE: REPORTS

Focusing on fentanyl production and trafficking, Canada will be adding new and expanded detection capacity at border entry points and building a Canadian Drug Analysis Center where authorities will study illegal drug samples to identify where and how they are manufactured.

“While less than 1% of the fentanyl intercepted at the U.S. border comes from Canada, any amount of fentanyl is too much,” Trudeau said, adding that “fentanyl must be wiped from the face of the Earth, its production must be shut down, and its profiteers must be punished.”

President Donald Trump threatened an additional 25% on Canadian imports if the country didn’t increase security at the northern border. (Nicholas Kamm)

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While the fentanyl that comes through the northern border is significantly less than what comes from Mexico, U.S. customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border during the last fiscal year.

Agents at the U.S.-Mexico border seized 21,100 pounds of fentanyl during the same time period.

February 12, 2025
House passes bill to permanently classify fentanyl as Schedule 1 drug

The House passed legislation Thursday to permanently classify fentanyl as a Schedule 1 drug, which lawmakers say will allow law enforcement to be better equipped to prosecute drug traffickers and stop the flow of such substances.

In 2018, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued a temporary scheduling order (TSO) for fentanyl as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), but the TSO is set to expire in March.

With the expiration date looming, Reps. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., and Bob Latta, R-Ohio, introduced the Halt All Lethal Trafficking (HALT) of Fentanyl Act that, if passed, would permanently amend the CSA to reflect the current scheduling order.

The legislation passed on Thursday with bipartisan support, 312-108, with 107 Democrats voting against its passage.

‘THIS IS ABOUT FENTANYL’: TARIFFS ARE CRUCIAL TO COMBATING ‘DRUG WAR,’ TRUMP AND CABINET OFFICIALS SAY

DEA announces largest fentanyl seizure to date in New York City after colorful pills were found hidden in a LEGO box. (U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration)

Schedule 1 drugs under the CSA are defined as “a drug, substance, or chemical that has a high potential for abuse; has no currently accepted medical value; and is subject to regulatory controls and mandatory minimum administrative, civil, and criminal penalties.”

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: WE HAVE TO STOP FENTANYL FROM COMING IN

The legislation also expands the mandatory minimum sentencing for manufacturing, importing, or possessing fentanyl-related substances with intent to distribute.

“I voted for the HALT Fentanyl Act to hold dangerous drug traffickers accountable for their crimes and equip our law enforcement officials with the tools that they need to confiscate deadly drugs, protect our families, and save lives,” Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, told Fox News Digital after the bill’s passage.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, we will continue to lock down our border, take on the drug cartels, support our border patrol agents 100%, and keep deadly drugs out of our communities,” Feenstra said.

Rep. Bob Latta was one of the Republican lawmakers who introduced the HALT Act in the House. (Tom Williams/Getty Images)

“The HALT Fentanyl Act is not just about strengthening law enforcement—it is about saving lives and protecting communities,” Drug Enforcement Association of Federal Narcotics Agents President Marshall Fisher wrote in a letter supporting the bill. “By permanently scheduling fentanyl analogues, we are sending a strong message that the United States will not tolerate the continued destruction caused by this drug.”

The House Energy and Commerce Committee, in promotion of the bill, shared data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that found in 2023 alone, there were nearly 75,000 deaths from synthetic opioids like fentanyl.

President Donald Trump speaks at the National Prayer Breakfast at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (Evan Vucci/AP Photo)

The bill comes amid a government-wide crackdown on fentanyl under President Donald Trump’s administration.

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Trump threatened to impose a 25% tariff on all goods entering the United States from Mexico and Canada, which were set to go into effect early February but were delayed by a month just hours before their enactment. Trump, however, did impose a 10% tariff on goods from China as part of his effort to combat fentanyl trafficking across the nation’s borders.

Aubrie Spady is a Writer for Fox News Digital.

February 6, 2025
‘This is about fentanyl’: Tariffs are crucial to combating ‘drug war,’ Trump and Cabinet officials say

The Trump administration is billing the new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China as critical to preventing fentanyl and other drugs from pouring into the U.S. border, rather than a step in an international trade war.

President Donald Trump is imposing a 25% tariff on all goods entering the United States from Mexico and Canada; a 10% tariff on Canadian energy; and a 10% tariff on all goods entering the U.S. from China. Those tariffs are set to go into effect Tuesday at midnight.

TRUMP DEFENDS TARIFFS, ACCUSES CANADA OF BEING ‘VERY ABUSIVE OF THE UNITED STATES’

The president spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Monday morning, he said, and is expected to speak to him again at 3 p.m. ET on Monday.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

“Canada doesn’t even allow U.S. Banks to open or do business there,” Trump posted on his Truth Social Monday. “What’s that all about? Many such things, but it’s also a DRUG WAR, and hundreds of thousands of people have died in the U.S. from drugs pouring through the Borders of Mexico and Canada.”

The president also spoke with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Monday morning – a conversation that led to Trump delaying the imposition of tariffs on Mexico for one month.

“It was a very friendly conversation wherein she agreed to immediately supply 10,000 Mexican Soldiers on the Border separating Mexico and the United States,” Trump posted on his Truth Social. “These soldiers will be specifically designated to stop the flow of fentanyl, and illegal migrants into our Country.”

“We further agreed to immediately pause the anticipated tariffs for a one month period during which we will have negotiations headed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent, and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and high-level Representatives of Mexico,” Trump wrote. “I look forward to participating in those negotiations, with President Sheinbaum, as we attempt to achieve a ‘deal’ between our two Countries.”

‘OVERDOSE EPIDEMIC’: BIPARTISAN SENATORS TARGET FENTANYL CLASSIFICATION AS LAPSE APPROACHES

On Sunday, Vice President JD Vance echoed a similar sentiment regarding drugs, posting on X that Mexico “sends tons of fentanyl into our country. Canada has seen a massive increase in fentanyl trafficking across its border.”

“There are three ways of stopping this,” Vance wrote. “The first is ask nicely, which we’ve done. It’s gone no where.”

He added: “Now we’re onto the consequences phase.”

And Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on Monday said the imposition of tariffs “isn’t a trade war with Canada, or Mexico or China.”

TRUMP IMPOSES TARIFFS ON IMPORTS FROM CANADA, MEXICO AND CHINA: ‘NATIONAL EMERGENCY’

“This is about fentanyl,” Burgum said on “Fox & Friends.” “We’ve had a mass invasion of our country. We’ve been taking mass casualties. We lose almost 300 people a day to overdose deaths.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with President-elect Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida in November 2024 to discuss topics like the economy, illegal immigration and tariffs. (Justin Trudeau X)

Burgum added: “President Trump wants to end this.”

The president authorized the tariffs in an executive order on Saturday. Under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a 25% additional tariff will be levied on imports from Canada and Mexico, with a 10% tariff on imports from China.

In the executive order, Trump said the tariffs stem from an “extraordinary threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs, including deadly fentanyl, [that] constitutes a national emergency.”

The tariffs have invited international criticism from leaders and citizens alike in Canada and Mexico. During his exchange with reporters on Sunday evening, Trump accused Canada of being “abusive” toward the U.S. in terms of trade.

CANADA, MEXICO ANNOUNCE RETALIATORY TARIFFS ON US IMPORTS IN RESPONSE TO TRUMP’S TARIFFS ON AMERICAN NEIGHBORS

“Canada has been very abusive of the United States for many years. They don’t allow our banks,” Trump said. “And you know that Canada does not allow banks to go in, if you think about it. That’s pretty amazing. If we have a U.S. bank, they don’t allow them to go in.”

“Canada has been very tough for oil on energy. They don’t allow our farm products in, essentially. They don’t allow a lot of things in. And we allow everything to come in as being a one-way street.”

Fentanyl seized in Nogales, Arizona. Border agents and officers seized more than 1,900 pounds of the illicit drug in October 2022. (Customs and Border Patrol)

Trump also said that the U.S. subsidizes Canada “by the tune of about $200 billion a year.”

“And for what? What do we get out of it? We don’t get anything out of it,” he added. “I love the people of Canada. I disagree with the leadership of Canada and something is going to happen there.”

But in a statement on Saturday, Sheinbaum said her country “categorically reject[s] the White House’s slander against the Mexican government of having alliances with criminal organizations, as well as any intention of intervention in our territory.”

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“Mexico not only does not want fentanyl to reach the United States, but anywhere,” the statement read. “Therefore, if the United States wants to combat criminal groups that traffic drugs and generate violence, we must work together in an integrated manner, but always under the principles of shared responsibility, mutual trust, collaboration and, above all, respect for sovereignty, which is not negotiable.”

Canada’s Trudeau slighted the U.S. by encouraging Canadians to “buy Canada,” and announcing his own set of tariffs on $20 billion “of goods imported from the United States,” including produce, meats and cheeses.

“Now is the time to choose products made right here in Canada,” Trudeau wrote on X. “Check the labels. Let’s do our part. Wherever we can, choose Canada.”

Brooke Singman is a political correspondent and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and FOX Business.

February 3, 2025
China threatens Trump tariff ‘countermeasures’: ‘Fentanyl is America’s problem’

The ‘Kudlow’ panel debates President Donald Trump’s plan to seize control of the Panama Canal.

Beijing is threatening to retaliate against the United States as President Donald Trump’s 10% tariffs on China are expected to take effect Tuesday.

The White House announced on Saturday that the Trump administration is implementing a 25% additional tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10% additional tariff on imports from China, in a move intended to hold the three countries “accountable to their promises of halting illegal immigration and stopping poisonous fentanyl and other drugs from flowing into our country.”

Namely with Beijing, the White House said Chinese officials “have failed to take the actions necessary to stem the flow of precursor chemicals to known criminal cartels and shut down money laundering by transnational criminal organizations.”

A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday that the 10% tariffs were being levied “under the pretext of the fentanyl issue.”

PANAMA PLEDGES TO END KEY CANAL DEAL WITH CHINA, WORK WITH US AFTER RUBIO VISIT

President Donald Trump talks to reporters after signing an executive order in the Oval Office on Jan. 31, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images / Getty Images)

“China firmly deplores and opposes this move and will take necessary countermeasures to defend its legitimate rights and interests,” the Foreign Ministry said. “China’s position is firm and consistent. Trade and tariff wars have no winners.”

The spokesperson argued that the United States’ unilateral tariff hikes “severely violate” World Trade Organization rules and “cannot solve the U.S.’s problems at home and more importantly, does not benefit either side, still less the world.”

“China is one of the world’s toughest countries on counternarcotics both in terms of policy and its implementation. Fentanyl is an issue for the U.S.,” the Foreign Ministry claimed in its statement released in English.

Reuters reported the statement as having been translated to convey, “Fentanyl is America’s problem.”

“In the spirit of humanity and goodwill, China has given support to the U.S.’s response to this issue. At the U.S.’s request, China announced back in 2019 the decision to officially schedule fentanyl-related substances as a class. We are the first country in the world to do so,” the spokesperson went on, adding that China has “conducted counternarcotics cooperation with the U.S. side in a broad-based way” and that the “U.S. needs to view and solve its own fentanyl issue in an objective and rational way instead of threatening other countries with arbitrary tariff hikes.” Beijing argued that “additional tariffs are not constructive and bound to affect and harm the counternarcotics cooperation between the two sides in the future.”

Xi Jinping addresses the fourth plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection CCDI on Jan. 6, 2025. (Li Xueren/Xinhua via Getty Images / Getty Images)

BILL MAHER DECLARES CHINA ‘THE NEW ISLAM,’ SAYS LEFT CAN’T BE HONEST ABOUT THE COUNTRY’S THREAT

“China calls on the U.S. to correct its wrongdoings, maintain the hard-won positive dynamics in the counternarcotics cooperation, and promote the steady, sound and sustainable development of China-U.S. relationship,” the spokesperson added.

A spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Public Security released a similar statement denouncing the 10% additional tariffs, arguing that the “the root cause of the fentanyl crisis in the United States lies in itself” and that “shifting blame onto other nations not only fails to resolve the issue but also erodes the foundation of trust and cooperation in the field of drug control between China and the United States,” according to the Chinese state-run Xinhua News Agency.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce also said Trump’s decision “seriously violates” international trade rules and implored the U.S. to “engage in frank dialogue and strengthen cooperation,” according to Reuters.

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, as Chinese President Xi Jinping’s special representative, meets with U.S. Vice President-elect J.D. Vance in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 19, 2025. (Liu Weibing/Xinhua via Getty Images / Getty Images)

The United States has tracked some 70,000 people dying from fentanyl annually.

Trump has often lamented China’s large trade deficit with the U.S., which reached nearly $1 trillion last year.

February 3, 2025
White House to impose tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China due to ‘invasion of illegal fentanyl’

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that President Donald Trump will execute tariffs upon Mexico, Canada and China starting Saturday.

Trump’s economic plan during his campaign called for extending the 2017 tax cuts and imposing tariffs ranging from 10% to 20% on all imported goods. For countries like China, that number could go up to 60%.

TRUMP TREASURY PICK: EXTENDING TRUMP TAX CUTS ‘SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT ECONOMIC ISSUE’

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt holds her first news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on Jan. 28, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

These countries will face these tariffs because they have allowed an “unprecedented invasion of illegal fentanyl that is killing American citizens,” according to Leavitt.

“The president will be implementing tomorrow a 25% tariff on Mexico, 25% tariffs on Canada, and a 10% tariff on China for the illegal fentanyl they have sourced and allowed to distribute into our country, which has killed tens of millions of Americans,” Leavitt told reporters Friday. “These are promises made and promises kept.”

CANADA READIES TRUMP TARIFFS RESPONSE: ‘IN A TRADE WAR, THERE ARE NO WINNERS’

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau participates in a cabinet swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall on Dec. 20, 2024, in Ottawa, Canada. (Dave Chan/AFP via Getty Images)

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While Canadian President Justin Trudeau said Friday that Canada was prepared to respond to any tariffs executed, Leavitt said that the tariffs are not expected to spark a trade war with Canada and that Trump would respond to Trudeau in “due time.”

Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.

January 31, 2025