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U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hailed the progress made with China on tackling fentanyl at trade talks in Switzerland, saying Beijing is “now serious” about the issue.
The talks also resulted in the suspension for 90 days of very high tariffs between the world’s two largest economies, respite in a trade war that has brought about fears of a recession.
A 20 percent tariff on Chinese goods related to the country’s role in the fentanyl trade remains in place, however. Fentanyl is a highly potent synthetic opioid behind a surge in drug overdose deaths in the U.S.
“This is a priority for President Trump and indeed the whole administration,” Bessent told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday morning.
“I have a personal stake in this. There are two very close friends [who] lost children to this terrible scourge. Hundreds of thousands of Americans die every year.
“And I think that we saw here in Geneva the Chinese are now serious about assisting the U.S. in stopping the flow of precursor drugs.”
Bessent noted the presence in the Chinese delegation of a deputy minister for security, whom he said was their “fentanyl expert”.
“We brought someone from our national security staff and they had a very long and in-depth sidebar about how our two countries could work together,” Bessent told CNBC.
This is a developing news story and more information will be added soon.