WASHINGTON -- Republican lawmakers and presidential candidates in the U.S. are targeting Chinese production of chemicals used to make fentanyl, as the deadly American opioid crisis becomes a key part of their policy toward Beijing.
Drug overdose deaths in the U.S. have surged in recent years, surpassing 109,000 in 2022. Fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid, accounts for most of these deaths, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports.
