China's government on Sunday denounced the Trump administration's imposition of a long-threatened 10% tariff on Chinese imports while leaving the door open for talks with the U.S. that could avoid a deepening conflict.

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.

President-elect Trump said he had a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday that was "a very good one" for both countries, pledging cooperation on trade and fentanyl.