A new federal taskforce will target misdeeds of opioid manufacturers and distributors, and the US Department of Justice will back lawsuits brought by local governments against makers of the prescription painkillers at the root of the opioids public health crisis, the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, announced on Tuesday.

The announcement comes as the Trump administration ramps up efforts to curb the epidemic, which killed 64,000 people in 2016. The government’s efforts are part of an election campaign promise Trump made to Appalachian states that heavily supported the president and which have borne the brunt of the crisis.

Sessions said he would seek “reimbursement” for costs the government incurred as a result of painkiller manufacturers’ allegedly “false, deceptive, and unfair marketing of opioid drugs”.

“The hardworking taxpayers of this country deserve to be compensated by any whose illegal activity contributed to these costs,” Sessions said.

Sessions said the opioid crisis cost the US an estimated $115bn in 2017, and has cost $1tn since 2001. Over the next three years, the crisis is expected to cost an additional half-trillion dollars, he said.

The new Prescription Interdiction and Litigation Unit, or “Pill” taskforce, will target manufacturers who “contributed” to the epidemic. The taskforce aims, in part, to “bring down the number of opioid prescriptions”, Sessions said. “We think there are just too many.”

Sessions also announced the department would issue “party of interest” statements in lawsuits filed against manufacturers.