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March 21, 2025

OFAC sanctions Chinese entities under Fentanyl Sanctions Act

Office of Foreign Assets Control
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U.s. Department of the Treasury
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Treasury sanctions Chinese firms while Beijing threatens soybean retaliation

On Mar. 21, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated six Chinese chemical firms as “blocked persons,” freezing any U.S. assets they own to disrupt upstream fentanyl supply chains (Treasury press release, https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy3055).

OFAC estimates the targeted network moves approximately 40 metric tons of opioid precursor chemicals each year—enough to yield billions of lethal doses—which underpins the urgency of the designations (Treasury press release, https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy3055).

The sanctions rely on authority granted by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and were signed by OFAC Director Bradley Smith; under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, OFAC can impose a civil-penalty maximum of $330,947 per violation (CRS IEEPA primer, https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/LSB/LSB10933; Treasury leadership page, https://home.treasury.gov/about/offices; OFAC penalty guidelines, https://ofac.treasury.gov/media/7066/download).

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Test Your Knowledge

10
Q1

Treasury’s March 21 sanctions targeted how many Chinese chemical firms for fentanyl trafficking?

Q2

Who is the current Director of OFAC who signed the notice?

Q3

Which Treasury office issued the designations?

Q4

The sanctions freeze any U.S. assets owned by the listed companies.

Q5

The action relies on which statute giving the president emergency economic-powers?

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People, bills, and sources

Bradley Smith (Director, OFAC)

signed the notice designating the six Chinese chemical suppliers as blocked persons.

What you can do

1

Financial institutions should screen all transactions and customer names against OFAC’s Mar. 21, 2025 blocked list at https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy3055 to ensure no assets of the six designated Chinese firms are held or transferred.

2

Entities seeking exemptions—for example, for humanitarian shipments or analytic work—must follow the licensing procedures detailed in OFAC FAQ 466 (https://ofac.treasury.gov/faqs/466) and submit license applications through OFAC’s online portal.

3

Compliance officers should incorporate the $330,947 per-violation penalty into their risk assessments by reviewing OFAC’s penalty guidelines (https://ofac.treasury.gov/media/7066/download) under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act.