US drug crisis deepens as Trump imposes fentanyl tariff on China
發佈日期: 2025-06-13 23:19
TVB News
The U.S. continues to impose a 20 percent "fentanyl tariff" on Chinese imports.
Many have criticised the move, arguing that such tariffs are ineffective against fentanyl trafficking in America. Chester Chong is a Reserve Officer for the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department.
He brought us along to witness the drug crisis in Los Angeles.
The Skid Row neighbourhood in Los Angeles is home to an estimated 80,000 homeless people.
Many live in tents along the streets.
Addicts and drug dealers seen buying and selling next to the police station.
Emergency responders find a victim collapsed, a suspected drug overdose.
Chong describes the neighbourhood as a "third world" within the city, with 90 percent of residents struggling with drug addiction.
CHESTER CHONG, Reserve Deputy, Los Angeles Sheriff's Department:"He says that the root of the crisis lies in the government's failure to effectively control drugs, as police officers are often powerless to arrest dealers."
In San Francisco, Chinatown business representative Edward Siu brought us to the Tenderloin District.
These areas are often referred to as "open-air drug markets" where drugs are used and sold out in the open.
In San Francisco, an average of two people die every day from overdose.
The Trump administration has imposed a 20 percent tariff on Chinese imports to pressure China into cracking down on exports of chemicals used to manufacture fentanyl, which they point to as the root of the drug crisis.
EDWARD SIU Chairman, Chinatown Merchants United Association of San Francisco:"Siu called on the U.S. government to reflect on their own actions in combating drug use before pointing fingers at others."
A programme offered by the city to hand out clean pipes and straws to reduce accidental overdoses was recently cancelled.
Instead, authorities announced they will open 300 new beds for homeless people struggling with addiction.
DESTINY PLETSCH,Deputy Director of The Way Out, Salvation Army San Francisco: "It is an actual sickness and so it's not something that will be solved merely by a roof over your head. People who are usually actively using, they want help, they just don't know how to get there."
Initiatives like "The Way Out" try to connect people struggling with abuse with treatment programmes. They also provide long term support, following individuals after treatment has been completed.
DESTINY PLETSCH, Deputy Director of The Way Out, Salvation Army San Francisco:"What we need to do is really hold a mirror to ourselves and say what is working? What do the people on our streets need? We can't get caught up in geopolitics, when there's a real and immediate need that every community needs to respond to."
The U.S. attorney general claimed that drug busts during the first months of the Trump administration saved over 200 million lives, equivalent to 75 percent of the U.S. population.
Many view these figures as rhetoric intended to please the administration.
