Trump lists India, China, Pakistan among global drug trafficking countries, warns of ‘serious consequences'

US President Donald Trump has named India, China and Pakistan among two dozen nations designated as major drug-producing or drug-transit countries, while declaring five others as having “failed demonstrably” to meet their international counternarcotics obligations.

In a ‘Presidential determination’ submitted to Congress on Monday, Trump said the list reflected geographic, commercial and economic factors that make certain countries vulnerable to drug trafficking, even when their governments cooperate with US enforcement efforts.

He, however, clarified that a country’s presence on the list was “not necessarily a reflection of its government’s counterdrug efforts or level of cooperation with the United States.”

Trump said more than 200 Americans die each day from illicit drugs, calling the crisis a “national emergency.”

The president singled out China as the world’s leading source of precursor chemicals used in fentanyl production, accusing Beijing of enabling traffickers by subsidising exports and failing to regulate its chemical industry.

"For too long, the PRC has enabled illicit fentanyl production in Mexico and elsewhere by subsidizing the export of the precursor chemicals needed to produce these deadly drugs and failing to prevent Chinese companies from selling these precursors to known criminal cartels," Trump said.

Trump has already announced tariffs and trade restrictions targeting Chinese companies tied to the flow of illicit substances.

Afghanistan, Bolivia, Burma, Colombia and Venezuela were formally deemed to have failed in their counternarcotics responsibilities.

“In Afghanistan, despite the Taliban’s announced ban on illegal drugs, drug stockpiles and ongoing production – including expanding production of methamphetamine – have sustained the flow of drugs to international markets,” the US president said.

Trump accused Colombia’s government under President Gustavo Petro of presiding over record-high coca cultivation and cocaine production, while condemning Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro as head of a “criminal regime” tied to trafficking networks.

The president also highlighted stepped-up cooperation with Mexico, where President Claudia Sheinbaum has deployed thousands of National Guard troops, transferred cartel leaders to US custody, and carried out record seizures of fentanyl and precursor chemicals.

But he warned Mexico’s progress must be “sustained and institutionalized.”

Trump vowed to continue using “every aspect of American power” to disrupt trafficking networks, including sanctions, expanded prosecutions and visa restrictions targeting traffickers’ families.

“This remains unacceptable,” Trump said of the drug crisis. “Countries where these drugs originate and transit must fulfill their obligations and shut off these supplies – or face serious consequences.”