Donald Trump, the President of the United States, has formally named 23 countries, such as India, Pakistan, China, and Afghanistan, as “major drug transit or major illicit drug producing countries.” Trump sent Congress a “Presidential Determination” in which he said that the flow of drugs and precursor chemicals from these countries is a direct threat to American safety.
The “Major’s List” is a list of nations that are either major sources or important transit sites for illegal drugs that go to the United States. The White House says that the classifications are based on a mix of geographic, commercial, and economic considerations that make it easier for drugs to be traded, no matter how hard a country tries to stop it. The State Department made it clear that being on this list does not mean that a country is not working with the US.
Main Accusations and Criticisms
China: Trump attacked China the most, calling it the “world’s largest source” of precursor chemicals needed to make deadly fentanyl. He encouraged Beijing to take “stronger and sustained action” to block the flow of these substances, which he said are making the fentanyl crisis in the US worse.
Trump named five countries—Afghanistan, Bolivia, Burma, Colombia, and Venezuela—as having “failed demonstrably” to meet their international drug-fighting duties during the past year.
Afghanistan: Trump added that even though the Taliban publicly banned drugs, drug manufacturing and stockpiles are still keeping global markets going and funding terrorists.
Colombia: The President said that the government was in charge of “record-high coca cultivation” and cocaine production, which hurt years of cooperative efforts to fight drugs.
He called Venezuela a key hub for cocaine trafficking under a “criminal regime.”
The US’s domestic crisis and what it will do next
Trump said that the worldwide drug trade was directly tied to the problems in the US, calling the trafficking of fentanyl a “national emergency.” He said that illegal drugs are now the number one cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 44, with an average of more than 200 deaths every day in 2024. The government is using all of its resources to fight this threat.
Trump said that Mexico should keep up its fight against drug gangs, even if he said that the two countries were working together more under President Claudia Sheinbaum. He closed with a strong warning to all the countries on the list: “America will act accordingly.” He said that they are either assisting the US or the drug trade.