President Trump walked into a high-stakes meeting with Xi Jinping in Busan and walked out with something concrete: a deal to press China to choke off the fentanyl pipeline in exchange for a sharp cut in the fentanyl-related tariffs. The president announced the tariff reduction and said China agreed to immediately ramp up action against fentanyl flows, while also committing to larger purchases of American farm goods. This is the kind of results-driven diplomacy Americans elected him to deliver.
Make no mistake — this was leverage, not appeasement. In return for China’s pledges to curb the deadly opioid trade, the administration secured commitments on rare earths and agricultural purchases that protect American supply chains and farmers alike. Conservatives who cheered the use of tariffs as a negotiating tool should be satisfied to see that economic pressure translated into policy concessions.
The deal reportedly trims the special fentanyl-related tariff from 20 percent to 10 percent, a clear example of trading relief for real action on a national scourge. Critics on the left will call it a compromise, but what they call compromise we call tradecraft — getting concessions that save American lives and bolster our industries. This administration is finally treating trade as a tool of national security instead of a crony cash cow for foreign interests.
Remember why these tariffs existed in the first place: to close loopholes and force accountability for the flood of synthetic opioids coming into our communities. The White House’s earlier moves to end de minimis loopholes and tighten mail and parcel enforcement were not theater — they were structural policy aimed at cutting off the supply chain that cartels exploit. When you combine surgical tariffs with enforcement, you create real deterrence instead of empty headlines.
One of the most wrenching voices in this fight is former deputy national security official Steve Yates, who lost his daughter to fentanyl and has turned his grief into relentless advocacy. Yates, who has been a prominent China hawk and a vocal supporter of tough measures, has publicly praised the administration’s hardline stance and the tariffs that forced Beijing to the table. No amount of cable-news snark can diminish the moral clarity of a father fighting for other families who still have their children.
Let’s be honest about the world we live in: the Chinese Communist Party has long treated trade rules as a tactical advantage and our past timidity invited the fentanyl crisis. This deal is not a magic bullet, and serious conservatives should remain skeptical and demand verification, but it is proof that toughness works where feckless diplomacy failed. If this administration follows through with inspections, sanctions, and financial pressure, we can constrict the supply chains feeding our opioid epidemic.
Congress and the executive branch must now act like they mean it — legislate tighter controls, fund border and postal interdiction, and back up tariffs with the kind of banking sanctions experts recommend to choke off money laundering and corrupt suppliers. Voices like Yates’s, who have seen the worst of this crisis firsthand, remind us that these policies are about saving lives, not scoring political points. If Republicans stay united and act with the same resolve, we can turn this damaging tide and hold China to its promises.
To every hardworking American watching their communities be hollowed out by drugs, this moment should feel like a turning point. President Trump used the leverage history gave him, and for once Washington moved with purpose instead of platitudes. Hold the leaders to their word, demand results, and never forget who this fight is for — our kids, our neighborhoods, and the future of a free America.
