HR747-119

What This Bill Does

The Stop Chinese Fentanyl Act states that the Government of the People's Republic of China should work with the United States to identify unregulated chemicals used to make fentanyl precursors, require proper labeling of chemical and equipment shipments, implement know-your-customer procedures for chemical shipments, and direct the National Narcotics Control Commission, Ministry of Public Security, General Administration of Customs, and National Medical Products Administration to enforce new precursor-trafficking rules.

The bill then amends the Fentanyl Sanctions Act. It expands the definition of foreign opioid trafficker to include Chinese entities that produce, manufacture, distribute, sell, finance, or transport covered goods and fail to take credible steps to detect or prevent opioid trafficking through know-your-customer procedures or cooperation with U.S. counternarcotics efforts. It also includes senior Chinese officials with significant regulatory or law-enforcement responsibility who aid and abet opioid trafficking, including through intentional inaction. The annual Fentanyl Sanctions Act review must consider whether the heads of the named Chinese narcotics, public-security, customs, and medical-products agencies are foreign opioid traffickers, and the review period is extended from five years to 10 years.

For International Emergency Economic Powers Act emergencies tied to international drug trafficking, the President must give annual written evaluations to specified House and Senate committees on whether the sanctions are resolving the emergency, stakeholder views, and possible changes. Regulations for covered emergencies must consider statutory and regulatory alternatives, weigh costs and benefits, establish criteria for ending the emergency, and explain how the rule will resolve the emergency. The bill also clarifies that mandatory blocking sanctions under the Act do not require sanctions on the importation of goods.

Who Benefits and How

U.S. counternarcotics officials, Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions staff, congressional foreign-affairs committees, families harmed by fentanyl trafficking, domestic law-enforcement partners, and compliant chemical distributors benefit from a broader sanctions definition and more scrutiny of Chinese precursor supply chains. U.S. importers, customs brokers, consumers of imported goods, and foreign goods manufacturers benefit from the goods-importation exception, which prevents the bill's blocking sanctions from automatically shutting down lawful goods trade.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Chinese fentanyl precursor producers, Chinese chemical manufacturers, Chinese fentanyl financiers, Chinese fentanyl transporters, senior Chinese narcotics officials, the National Narcotics Control Commission, Ministry of Public Security, General Administration of Customs, and National Medical Products Administration face sanctions exposure or mandatory U.S. review if they fail to prevent opioid trafficking. The President, Treasury sanctions staff, and executive-branch regulators must write annual evaluations, consult stakeholders, weigh costs and benefits, and define termination criteria for drug-trafficking emergency regulations.

Key Provisions

• Urges China to identify precursor chemicals, require shipment labeling, adopt know-your-customer procedures, and enforce precursor-trafficking rules.
• Expands the Fentanyl Sanctions Act foreign-opioid-trafficker definition to cover certain Chinese chemical entities and senior Chinese officials.
• Requires Fentanyl Sanctions Act reviews to assess named Chinese narcotics, public-security, customs, and medical-products agency heads.
• Extends the Fentanyl Sanctions Act review period from five years to 10 years.
• Requires annual congressional evaluations for IEEPA emergencies involving international drug trafficking.
• Requires covered sanctions regulations to weigh alternatives, costs, benefits, and termination criteria.
• Exempts goods importation from mandatory blocking sanctions under the Act.