ROB PORTMAN Anited States Senate WASHINGTON, 0¢ 20510, April 5, 2017 President Donald J. Trump The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington D.C, 20500 Dear Mr, President: ‘Thank you for your commitment to address the opioid epidemic. As you know, fentanyl is a significant factor in the growing number of Americans dying from drug overdoses in recent years, There is no dispute that China is the largest manufacturer of illicit fentanyl and other ‘dangerous synthetic drugs. I ask that you prioritize this issue in your bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Finping. ‘According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), deaths involving fentanyl and synthetic opioids rose from 5,544 in 2014 to 9,580 in 2015, an increase of 73 percent. Fentanyl is 30 to 50 times stronger than heroin and often emerges in the illegal drug market laced with powder heroin or pressed into tablets designed to mimic the appearance of a prescription opioid, U.S. law enforcement agencies report that the majority of fentanyl found in the illegal drug market is produced in China, Law enforcement has detected efforts by drug traffickers to smuggle fentanyl across both the Northern border from Canada and the Southwest border from Mexico. However, increasingly Fentanyl comes into the United States directly from China by express and traditional mail, Chemical testing of fentanyl seized by law enforcement from the United States Postal Service (USPS), and well as from private or express consignment shipping companies (UPS, DHL, FedEx) suggest that the fentanyl coming by direct shipments is deadly, with a purity of higher than 90 percent ‘The production of fentanyl and other synthetic drugs thrive in China because of the country’s expansive chemical and pharmaceutical industries, China’s pharmaceutical market is the second largest in the world by revenue, consisting of more than 5,000 companies with a revenue of $105 billion in 2014." The U.S, Department of State estimates that nationwide, China has more than 4 pts world, "Pharmaceutical Manufacturing in China: Market Research Report,” January 2016. nap://www.tisworid.com/industey/china/pharmaceutica-manufacturing.html; US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, Chapter 1, Section 3, “China's Health Care Industry, Drug Safety, and Market Access for U.S. Metical Goods and Services,” in 2014 Annual Report to Congress, November 2014, 134; Ed Ginat eta, "China's Pharmaceutical industry Polsed for the Giant Leap,” KPMG, 2034, 7.160,000 chemical companies operating legally and illegally, with some facilities manufacturing tons of chemicals every week and others producing more than one million pills a day.” While there have been actions taken by the Chinese, more aggressive oversight of Chinese chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturers is warranted. In 2015, following pressure from the United States, Chinese officials scheduled more than 100 substances, In February 2017, the Chinese scheduled carfentanil, a synthetic opioid more powerful than fentanyl that is responsible for hundreds of overdoses in the United States. Last fall, you addressed fentanyl and the opioid epidemic and embraced the bipartisan solution Ive introduced, saying “we will close the shipping loopholes that China and others are exploiting to send dangerous drugs across our borders in the hands of our own postal service. These traffickers use loopholes in the Postal Service to mail fentanyl and other drugs to users and dealers in the U.S.A Trump administration will crack down on this abuse, and give law enforcement the tools they need to accomplish this mission.” That is exactly what the Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention (STOP) Act, which I introduced with Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), will do. This bipartisan legislation closes this loophole and requires USPS to provide advanced electronic data to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB). Access to electronic customs data for international mai] will enable CPB to more effectively enforce U.S. customs and trade laws and stop illicit drugs and other counter! goods from crossing our borders. During your bilateral meeting with President Xi, it is paramount that you send a clear message that the United States will work tirelessly to prevent fentanyl and other synthetic drugs produced in China from entering the United States. The opioid epidemic continues to devastate communities, families, and individuals across our country. I urge you to prioritize this issue in your discussions with President Xi and seek a commitment to stop fentanyl and other deadly drugs coming from China into the United States. Sincerely, Toy potoain Rob Portman 2 US. Department of State, 2014 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), March 2014, heep://morw state,gov//in\/ls/nrcrpt/2014/volt/223172.htm; Roger Bate, Phake: The Deadly World of Falsified and Substandard Medicines, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 2012, 186.