S. 860 · Where this bill is now
In committee
Introduced in the Senate, Mar 5, 2025
What this bill does
In plain words · AI-written from the official summaryTargets foreign opioid traffickers with sanctions
This bill requires the President to submit a yearly report naming foreign opioid traffickers and imposes financial and legal sanctions on them, such as banning their access to loans and property transactions. It focuses special attention on Chinese nationals and companies shipping fentanyl and fentanyl-related chemicals to Mexico or other countries where it gets produced for the U.S. market. The bill also extends these sanctions to foreign individuals and companies that help traffickers financially or materially, and to foreign government entities involved in opioid trafficking.
How it affects you
This bill doesn't directly change laws that affect your daily life. It's aimed at law enforcement and U.S. policymakers working to disrupt the supply of fentanyl entering the United States from abroad by targeting the foreign traffickers and organizations that move it.
Read the official summary (Introduced in Senate, Mar 5, 2025)
Break Up Suspicious Transactions of Fentanyl Act or the BUST FENTANYL Act
This bill revives a requirement for the President to identify foreign opioid traffickers and extends opioid trafficking sanctions to new categories of foreign persons (individuals and entities) whose actions support such trafficking.
Specifically, the bill revives through 2030 a requirement that the President annually submit a report to Congress identifying foreign opioid traffickers. (For those listed in the report, the President must select certain sanctions to impose on them, such as bans on loans, foreign exchange transactions, and property transactions.) The bill also specifies that such reports must prioritize the identification of Chinese nationals and entities involved in the shipment of fentanyl, fentanyl-related chemicals, and fentanyl manufacturing equipment to Mexico or any other country involved in the production of fentanyl trafficked to the United States.
The bill extends such foreign opioid trafficker sanctions to additional categories of foreign persons, including those that have knowingly (1) engaged in significant activities or financial transactions that materially contributed to opioid trafficking; or (2) provided financial, material, or technological support for such activities or transactions.
The bill also authorizes the President to impose these sanctions on foreign government entities, including government owned or controlled financial institutions, that are involved in activities that contribute to opioid trafficking. Additionally, the President may impose property-blocking sanctions on senior officials of these foreign government entities who knowingly facilitate such activities.
Written by AI (Claude) using only the official summary by the Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress’s nonpartisan research staff. It can miss nuance, so check the official summary and the bill text for details.
1st SessionS. 860
A BILL
BUST FENTANYL Act
Sponsor: Sen. James E. Risch (R-ID) · Introduced Mar 5, 2025 · International Affairs · 2 versions of the text
Sources: Congress.gov actions and votes · bill text from GovInfo · latest official action Apr 28, 2025: “Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 54.”
Sections
The wording of this bill hasn’t changed across its 2 official versions.
Sections · 7
- Sec. 1Short titlesNo change
- Sec. 2International Narcotics Control Strategy ReportNo change
- Sec. 3Study and report on efforts to address fentanyl trafficking from the People's Republic of China and other relevant countriesNo change
- Sec. 4Prioritization of identification of persons from the People's Republic of ChinaNo change
- Sec. 5Expansion of sanctions under the Fentanyl Sanctions ActNo change
- Sec. 6Imposition of sanctions with respect to agencies or instrumentalities of foreign statesNo change
- Sec. 7Annual report on efforts to prevent the smuggling of methamphetamine into the United States from MexicoNo change