Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) criticized the Biden administration on Tuesday after reports the White House has discussed lifting sanctions on a Chinese entity to incentivize Beijing to help fight the fentanyl crisis.

“Beijing’s reported pitch to curtail fentanyl precursors fueling overdose deaths in the United States on the condition that the U.S. lift sanctions on suspected human rights abusers is an outrageous suggestion and a false choice,” Grassley said in a statement. “ If the Biden administration accepts this, it will be a further cultivation of a failed strategy of appeasement with our adversaries.”

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During meetings in Beijing last month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken attempted to revive negotiations with China to combat the fentanyl crisis, but Chinese officials insisted the United States must first remove sanctions on a police institute suspected of participating in human rights abuses, according to reporting from the Wall Street Journal. Nothing has been agreed to currently, but U.S. officials are reportedly reconsidering restrictions on the institute in an effort to gain China’s help in stopping the flow of fentanyl into the U.S.

Federal estimates released in May found more than 100,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2022, which is significantly higher than just a few years earlier. Many experts believe China must have a critical role in the effort to stop the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. Many Chinese companies produce chemicals that are then shipped to Mexican drug cartels to produce fentanyl that is ultimately smuggled into the U.S.

Grassley and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) sent a letter to the Chinese Embassy in Washington, urging the Chinese Communist Party to take action to stop the chemical production. The Iowa senator has made it clear he believes the CCP must take responsibility for its role in fueling the fentanyl epidemic.

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“This is an unserious proposal that makes a mockery of the drug epidemic facing our nation. In order to solve the fentanyl crisis, the United States must take the lead,” Grassley added.

The Biden administration is also under pressure from lawmakers to deal with the fentanyl crisis, with some urging the U.S. military to be used to battle drug cartels.