China will sentence fentanyl traffickers to death: Trump

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he thinks China will soon sentence people to death for fentanyl manufacturing and distribution, as he offered fresh optimism about the prospects of a deal with Beijing on illicit drugs.

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The drug trade has joined a range of economic and security issues as a major flashpoint in the relationship between the countries in recent years.

Washington accuses Beijing of failing to curb the flow of precursor chemicals for fentanyl, a leading cause of US overdose deaths. Beijing has defended its drug control record and accused Washington of using fentanyl to “blackmail” China.

Mr Trump imposed 20% tariffs on Chinese imports over the issue in February, and they have remained in effect despite a fragile trade truce reached by both sides in Geneva in May.

“I think we're going to work it out so that China is going to end up going from that to giving the death penalty to the people that create this fentanyl and send it into our country,” Mr Trump said. “I believe that's going to happen soon.”