China has reiterated it could take “necessary countermeasures" after U.S. President Donald Trump decided to impose a 10% tariff on China for allegedly doing too little to stem the production of precursor chemicals for the drug fentanyl.

China's sharpest pushback on Sunday was over fentanyl, an area where the Biden administration had also been urging Beijing to crack down on shipments.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Sunday that China opposed the tariffs, which it said were introduced “under the pretext of the fentanyl issue”. “The US needs to view and solve its own fentanyl issue in an objective and rational way instead of threatening other countries with arbitrary tariff hikes,” the MFA said.

US President Donald Trump plans to have discussions with Chinese President Xi Jinping following a promising phone call. Topics included trade, TikTok,

Chinese products will soon face a 10% tariff coming into the United States in a move that could ramp up conflict between the world’s two largest economies.

President Donald Trump's new tariff orders against Canada, Mexico and China all contain clauses suspending a duty-free exemption for low-value shipments below $800 that is widely seen as a loophole that has allowed shipments of fentanyl and its precursor chemicals into the United States.