China threatens Trump tariff ‘countermeasures’: ‘Fentanyl is America’s problem’

Beijing is threatening to retaliate against the United States as President Donald Trump’s 10% tariffs on China are expected to take effect Tuesday. 

The White House announced on Saturday that the Trump administration is implementing a 25% additional tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10% additional tariff on imports from China, in a move intended to hold the three countries “accountable to their promises of halting illegal immigration and stopping poisonous fentanyl and other drugs from flowing into our country.” 

Namely with Beijing, the White House said Chinese officials “have failed to take the actions necessary to stem the flow of precursor chemicals to known criminal cartels and shut down money laundering by transnational criminal organizations.” 

A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday that the 10% tariffs were being levied “under the pretext of the fentanyl issue.” 

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President Donald Trump talks to reporters after signing an executive order in the Oval Office on Jan. 31, 2025, in Washington, DC.  (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images / Getty Images)

“China firmly deplores and opposes this move and will take necessary countermeasures to defend its legitimate rights and interests,” the Foreign Ministry said. “China’s position is firm and consistent. Trade and tariff wars have no winners.” 

The spokesperson argued that the United States’ unilateral tariff hikes “severely violate” World Trade Organization rules and “cannot solve the U.S.’s problems at home and more importantly, does not benefit either side, still less the world.” 

“China is one of the world’s toughest countries on counternarcotics both in terms of policy and its implementation. Fentanyl is an issue for the U.S.,” the Foreign Ministry claimed in its statement released in English. 

Reuters reported the statement as having been translated to convey, “Fentanyl is America’s problem.” 

“In the spirit of humanity and goodwill, China has given support to the U.S.’s response to this issue. At the U.S.’s request, China announced back in 2019 the decision to officially schedule fentanyl-related substances as a class. We are the first country in the world to do so,” the spokesperson went on, adding that China has “conducted counternarcotics cooperation with the U.S. side in a broad-based way” and that the “U.S. needs to view and solve its own fentanyl issue in an objective and rational way instead of threatening other countries with arbitrary tariff hikes.” Beijing argued that “additional tariffs are not constructive and bound to affect and harm the counternarcotics cooperation between the two sides in the future.” 

Xi Jinping addresses the fourth plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection CCDI on Jan. 6, 2025.  (Li Xueren/Xinhua via Getty Images / Getty Images)

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“China calls on the U.S. to correct its wrongdoings, maintain the hard-won positive dynamics in the counternarcotics cooperation, and promote the steady, sound and sustainable development of China-U.S. relationship,” the spokesperson added. 

A spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Public Security released a similar statement denouncing the 10% additional tariffs, arguing that the “the root cause of the fentanyl crisis in the United States lies in itself” and that “shifting blame onto other nations not only fails to resolve the issue but also erodes the foundation of trust and cooperation in the field of drug control between China and the United States,” according to the Chinese state-run Xinhua News Agency. 

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce also said Trump’s decision “seriously violates” international trade rules and implored the U.S. to “engage in frank dialogue and strengthen cooperation,” according to Reuters. 

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, as Chinese President Xi Jinping’s special representative, meets with U.S. Vice President-elect J.D. Vance in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 19, 2025.  (Liu Weibing/Xinhua via Getty Images / Getty Images)

The United States has tracked some 70,000 people dying from fentanyl annually. 

Trump has often lamented China’s large trade deficit with the U.S., which reached nearly $1 trillion last year.