Trump says US working on deal with China to impose death penalty for Fentanyl traffickers

China may soon give death penalty for fentanyl traffickers, says Trump

US President Donald Trump stated that the United States is negotiating a deal with China under which Beijing would impose the death penalty on individuals involved in producing or trafficking fentanyl into the US Trump claimed that both countries are working together to implement stricter measures to curb the flow of the deadly drug.

Trump said that the tariffs imposed on China are a penalty to make up for the losses incurred by the US due to the alleged trafficking of the drug

"I have a very good relationship with President Xi of China, but I imposed a 20% tariff on China because of the fentanyl. And I call it a penalty. It's a penalty because China delivers much of the fentanyl. Some people would say all of it. They deliver it into Mexico and even into our own country," he said.

President Trump just signed a bipartisan bill cracking down on fentanyl alongside Americans who shared heartbreaking stories about losing their children, and @FoxNews@CNN@MSNBC did not air the event.

What could be more important than this?👇 pic.twitter.com/6w1IVkVelD — Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) July 16, 2025

Trump said that the tariff is meant to make up for the damage caused by the drug. He added, "We have a 20 per cent (tariff), so they pay billions of dollars and billions of dollars in damages for what they've done. And I think we're going to work it out so that China is going to end up going from that to giving the death penalty to the people that create this fentanyl and send it into our country, whether it's through other countries or directly."

He also remarked that such an agreement ought to have been reached much earlier. "I believe that we would have had that deal a long time ago. I shook hands with them, and then we had a rigged election, and we had somebody else come in, and they didn't know anything about a deal for the death penalty," Trump said.

He further added, "The death penalty is going to be imposed on people from China who make fentanyl and send it into our country. I believe that's going to happen soon. But as of today, all fentanyl related substances will be banned forever, and those who traffic in these deadly poisons will be put behind bars for a very long period of time."