Gabriel Noronha, the Executive Director of Polaris National Security, has urged the U.S. to impose stricter sanctions on China's semiconductor and technology sectors in response to its role in the fentanyl trade. This suggestion was made public through a statement shared with the Federal Newswire on April 29.
"The Select Committee's recommendations would be strong actions to impose specific costs on the CCP's support for the fentanyl trade, and to help interdict the influx of fentanyl and its precursors into America," said Noronha. "But they won't be enough to halt the flow until the CCP's hand is forced. The United States would need to impose severe pressure - not just on the fentanyl trade, but on sectors where the CCP is vulnerable, like semiconductors and technology. Then we have to be willing to trade that leverage for concessions on the fentanyl front, and not for the other various priorities in the U.S.-China relationship."
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has noted that recent U.S. efforts to limit China's access to advanced semiconductor technologies through sanctions have had varying impacts on the industry. While these new restrictions have hindered China's ability to procure equipment for next-generation production, they have also led to an increase in domestic investments in advanced chips by China, thereby reducing the market shares of U.S. firms. Such a shift could potentially undermine the competitiveness of U.S. firms in the long run. The Biden administration's export controls, implemented due to national security concerns, are straining relations with both allies and China as well as the chip industry itself by aiming to restrict China's access to advanced chips and production tools over several years. These restrictions are impacting China's semiconductor ecosystem, slowing down its access to cutting-edge technology and causing setbacks for Chinese companies.
In a discussion about the fentanyl crisis on the China Desk Podcast for the Federal Newswire, Noronha highlighted how it is linked with China and its southern border. He revealed a website named made-in-china.com that demonstrates how precursor chemicals needed for producing fentanyl can be shipped globally from China. "They say they offer discreet shipping to Indiana, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, Mexico, Prague–wherever you want it. They will get it there and they have screenshots showing successful purchases [to those locations]," said Noronha. He further emphasized that "stopping the precursors coming from China has to be at the top of the list," of foreign policy priorities.
Noronha stated that 110,000 Americans were killed in 2021 from fentanyl overdoses and 100,000 were killed in 2022. He attributes this crisis to China.
A report by the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) asserts that the People's Republic of China (PRC), led by the CCP, is responsible for the fentanyl epidemic in the U.S., which is causing approximately 200 American deaths per day. The Committee released this report during a hearing titled "The CCP's Role in the Fentanyl Crisis." The investigation found that the CCP "subsidizes the manufacturing and export of illicit fentanyl materials" using "tax rebates." Fentanyl precursor chemicals, along with other narcotics, are manufactured in China and then sent to Mexico to be converted into pill form. These precursors are sold openly on China's "extensively monitored and controlled" internet, as per the report. The CCP is said to "strategically and economically benefit from the fentanyl crisis."
Before his role as Executive Director of Polaris National Security, Noronha served as a special advisor for the State Department's Iran action group and special assistant for the Senate Armed Services Committee, according to Federal Newswire.
