March 26, 2025 12:03PM # Tariffs Won’t Stop Fentanyl Smuggling By [Jeffrey Miron](https://www.cato.org/people/jeffrey-miron) --- SHARE Listen to this article Generated with [ ElevenLabs](https://elevenlabs.io/) AI technology. Loading the [Elevenlabs Text to Speech](https://elevenlabs.io/text-to-speech) AudioNative Player... ![drugs](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/2024-07/drug%20smuggling.jpg?itok=NOM1Kfrj) On February 1, 2025, the White House announced a series of aggressive tariffs against Canada, Mexico, and China (since adjusted in numerous ways). One ostensible justification for the tariffs is to combat fentanyl smuggling. According to [the statement](https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/02/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-imposes-tariffs-on-imports-from-canada-mexico-and-china/), Customs and Border Protection seized more than 21,000 pounds of fentanyl at American borders last year, a drug that contributes to over 75,000 overdose deaths annually. This approach will fail; fentanyl smuggling occurs because fentanyl is illegal, and higher tariffs do nothing to reduce the incentives prohibition creates for illicit trade. Prohibition also spreads [violence](https://www.nber.org/papers/w6950) and [corruption](http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1024981601093), both domestically and in source countries. Underground markets also impede quality control because consumers must guess the potency or composition of the drugs they consume, quadrupling drug-related [poisonings](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1308340/) and increasing emergency room visits by 60 percent in destination countries. A legal market would reduce these risks dramatically. In short, punitive tariffs are not a solution to the problem of fentanyl smuggling. Instead, the U.S. should legalize not just fentanyl but all drugs. This would eliminate the black market and its attendant adverse consequences. *This article appeared on* [*Substack*](https://jeffreymiron.substack.com/) *on March 26, 2025. Jonah Karafiol, a student at Harvard College, co-wrote this post.* ##### Related Tags [Drug War](https://www.cato.org/drug-war) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).