Memorandum on the Presidential Determination on Major Drug Transit or Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries for Fiscal Year 2025
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including section 706(1) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003 (Public Law 107-228) (FRAA), I hereby identify the following countries as major drug transit or major illicit drug producing countries (including countries that are a significant direct source of precursor chemicals used in the production of certain drugs and substances significantly affecting the United States): Afghanistan, The Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Burma, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela.
A country’s presence on the foregoing list is not necessarily a reflection of its government’s counterdrug efforts or level of cooperation with the United States. The list is not a sanction or penalty. Consistent with the statutory definition of a major drug transit or major illicit drug producing country set forth in sections 481(e)(2) and 481(e)(5) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended (Public Law 87-195) (FAA), the reason countries are placed on the list is the combination of geographic, commercial, and economic factors that allow drugs or precursor chemicals to be transited or produced, even if a government has engaged in robust and diligent narcotics control and law enforcement measures. The James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (Public Law 117-263) amended the definition of major drug source countries to include source countries of precursor chemicals used to produce illicit drugs significantly affecting the United States.
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Provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate there were an estimated 107,543 drug overdose deaths in the United States during 2023 — a decrease of 3 percent from the 111,029 deaths estimated in 2022. This is the first annual decrease in drug overdose deaths since 2018 and a sign that my Administration’s historic investments are having an impact. Federally funded State Opioid Response grant programs have contributed to the prevention of over 600,000 potentially fatal overdoses and delivered nearly 10 million naloxone kits since 2020. Naloxone is available over-the-counter for the first time, thanks to actions taken by the Food and Drug Administration. Our workforce of addiction professionals continues to grow, providing the essential prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery support services the American people need.
We are also taking unprecedented action to disrupt the supply of fentanyl, other deadly drugs, and precursor chemicals. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has stopped more fentanyl at ports of entry over the last 2 years than in the previous 5 years combined, keeping tens of millions of fentanyl-laced pills and thousands of pounds of fentanyl powder away from our communities. In 2023 alone, CBP seized approximately 1.2 billion doses of fentanyl. In just the last 5 months, over 442 million potentially lethal doses of fentanyl were seized at United States borders. In 2021, I signed an Executive Order targeting foreign persons engaged in the global illicit drug trade and have since sanctioned more than 300 persons and entities under this authority, thus cutting them off from the United States’ financial system. The Department of Justice has successfully arrested and prosecuted high-level drug cartel leaders, drug traffickers, and money launderers — placing dangerous traffickers behind bars.