China Fueling US Fentanyl Crisis?

China is directly subsidizing production of illicit fentanyl precursors for sale abroad, and this is fueling the U.S. opioid crisis. This is according to a congressional committee. Members released documents today that show findings from an investigation that said that it unveiled Beijing's incentives for the deadly chemicals. Listen. As our committee investigation unveiled today, the CCP is subsidizing, awarding, and investing in chemical companies that are responsible. They're failing to prosecute these companies or collaborate with U.S. law enforcement, essentially conducting forms of legal and illegal statecraft to unleash an all-out drug warfare in a, what I think, not so covert effort to weaken their opponents and overthrow the democratic system. The PRC and the CCP are not just bystanders. They are prime movers. First, the committee's investigators have found a hidden PRC government website, currently fully active, that offers complete tax rebates, incentivizing the export of all fentanyl analogs and precursors, as well as other synthetic narcotics, drugs that are illegal in the U.S., illegal in China, and have no legitimate purpose. The tax rates are among the highest offered and allow companies to effectively operate tax-free when they export fentanyl precursors. Second, the committee's evidence shows that the PRC provides grants and awards to companies that are engaged in open and notorious synthetic narcotic manufacturing and drug trafficking. Since the Biden-Xi meeting, would you say, based on your own knowledge, Mr. Barr, and the findings of this report, that the PRC has in any way meaningfully taken any steps to reduce the production of fentanyl precursors? I'm not aware of any material steps that they've taken. And here's the thing. A new bill to ban TikTok could actually be up for a House vote this week. It's different than what it passed last month. Sources are saying that this time, the ban is tucked into a set of four separate bills. And they address Democrats' foreign aid priorities. It could hold some appeal for Democrats and make the ban harder for the Senate to ignore. The Senate has yet to take up a previous TikTok bill, which the House passed with strong bipartisan support last month. It would ban the platform from U.S. app stores unless it's spun off from its Chinese parent Supporters of that measure say that the social media company is a national security risk. TikTok says about 170 million Americans use the platform, and banning it faces some opposition, to say the least.