How Lamar Alexander Helped Convince China To Crack Down On Fentanyl

China shocked officials around the globe this month when it acted to restrict the production of fentanyl in clandestine labs. The synthetic drugs are blamed for much of the rise in deadly overdoses in the U.S., and the crackdown in China is partially the result of prodding from Senator Lamar Alexander.

The Tennessee Republican joined a delegation to talk trade with the Chinese in late October. But on the trip to Beijing, the U.S. Ambassador to China told Senator Alexander to focus his interactions on fentanyl instead, according to CNN.

So the Senator’s first question to everyone he spoke with was about how they planned to stop all the fentanyl made in Chinese labs from ending up in the mail to America.

“We weren’t pointing the finger at them, saying it’s your problem,” Alexander said in November on the Senate floor. “The only finger we’d like to point is to say you can do more than anybody else to help solve the problem.”

More: How Fentanyl Is Becoming Tennessee’s Killer Drug

Starting May 1, China classified all derivative forms of fentanyl as controlled substances. In a letter, the Ambassador to China told Alexander the action grew out of the October meetings.

“That commitment and this key development are direct results of your visit to Beijing, during which you highlighted China’s role in the global opioid crisis,” Ambassador Terry Branstad wrote.