Are more agents being hired? It would be the only agency expanding
Has China been appeasing trump? Cracking down? That’s news. Any fact citing?
I'm usually not invested enough to do the work to overcome skepticism on this topic any more, but here you go.
"$4.1 billion for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to hire 5,000 customs officers and 3,000 border patrol agents... "
They're not just going to sit around doing nothing. With package volume from China down 70-80%, it's going to be much easier to scrutinize, and my biggest concern, follow up on the recipients of illegal products rather than limit that to Schedule 1 and machine gun parts because of limited enforcement resources.
Every "love letter" in theory could be investigated as a crime, they simply couldn't do it with a limited number of agents.
The federal law enforcement community, and the federal workforce at large, is analyzing the impact of the “Big Beautiful Bill,” President Trump’s signature legislation that was signed into law on the Fourth of July. The $3.4 trillion package includes a surge of money for the Departmen
www.fedagent.com
"Appease" is leftist media speak to characterize the president's policy wins as something negative, probably to humiliate those who make deals in order to encourage others to "resist", even when it's country's adversaries.
Of course it's not a coincidence China took action to stop supplying illegal drug precursors right after the last election. Under Trump's previous admin, China was pressured into allowing the DEA to open offices and operate in China, under Biden, they were effectively kicked out.
China's asymmetrical warfare supplying deadly synthetic opioid precursors and the resulting 80,000 annual deaths of Americans has been a primary justification for taking action against them on the trade front. There's nothing partisan about that. Both parties have been adamant about it, as I've documented here, in congressional committees, draft laws, and even Biden's strong statements (but weak actions) against de minimus shipments. But thats been moving in slow motion for 3 years. With an actual FAFO opponent coming into office, China decided it was in their best interest to quickly, pre-emptively "appease" Trump by reigning in the flow of powdered death. Trillions in trade being on the line is worth far more to China than the quiet satisfaction of poisoning their enemies.
Unfortunately for us, stopping illegal white powders is an all or nothing proposition. Neither the Chinese or CBP is going to tailor enforcement efforts so if they're "just steroids" they'll get a pass. These are still Schedule III drugs and China is a member of the UN treaties that make exporting them illegal.
And now pharma has blockbuster drug billions funding an army of lawyers pestering politicians 24/7 to get the FDA to use its long ignored powers to stop counterfeit GLP's, which is going to strangle the supply of all peptides, and probobly India pharma, as collateral damage.