By Trevor Hunnicutt
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden called for larger penalties for drug smugglers and stricter controls on pill presses and importers on Wednesday as part of new steps to deal with the U.S. opioid crisis, according to a senior administration official.
The efforts come as illicit fentanyl remains a potent issue for Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who is poised to clinch the Democratic nomination for the Nov. 5 election. Fentanyl overdoses have surged to become the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45 and over 107,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2023.
The lethal narcotic is trafficked into the United States, often across the porous U.S.-Mexico border, and easily manufactured from chemicals sourced in China.
Biden said he was directing federal agencies to do more on collecting intelligence, coordination to disrupt trafficking and working with the private sector on counter-narcotics, according to the official, who declined to be named.
He will also ask Congress to pass legislation to create a nationwide registry of pill press machinery that could be used to produce the drugs, raise penalties on traffickers, regulate some fentanyl-related substances more stringently and require importers of small packages to provide more information to customs officials.
"This is a time to act. And this is a time to stand together - for all those we have lost, and for all the lives we can still save," Biden said in a statement.
As part of an effort launched last year to thaw icy relations with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Biden agreed to cooperate with Beijing on counter-narcotics.
A delegation of senior Chinese officials was set to meet the Biden administration on Wednesday to continue conversations on increasing controls on fentanyl chemicals and restricting financing for the drug trade in China.
"We are well aware that there is a lot more that the PRC needs to do," said the official, referring to the People's Republic of China.
Biden and Harris have faced criticism from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump over irregular crossings along the Mexican border. Biden administration officials have pushed back on the criticism, blaming Republicans for killing a bipartisan deal that would have increased border patrol resources to crack down on drug trafficking.