If the United States follows through on threats to designate transnational criminal organizations as terrorist groups, it would create significant compliance and operational challenges for businesses in Mexico, harm the Mexican economy and U.S.-Mexico relations, and open the door to unilateral U.S. military or covert action on Mexican soil. Shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating a process for certain ''international cartels'' and other criminal organizations to be designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) or Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs). The order states that cartels have engaged in a campaign of violence and terrorism and that they control ''nearly all illegal traffic across the southern border of the United States.'' The order requires that the secretary of state, in consultation with other departments, make a recommendation regarding the designation of transnational criminal groups as FTOs and/or SDGTs within 14 days of the...
