New Delhi: The Donald Trump administration has imposed a 10% tariff on imports from China, eliciting a strong response from Beijing.

The tariff regime does not come as a surprise as Trump had vowed to cut imports to encourage manufacturing in the United States.

On Saturday, Trump ordered 25 percent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports and 10 percent on goods from China, citing a "major threat" by "illegal aliens".

"We need to protect Americans, and it is my duty as President to ensure the safety of all. I made a promise on my campaign to stop the flood of illegal aliens and drugs from pouring across our borders, and Americans overwhelmingly voted in favor of it," he posted on social media.

China condemned Trump’s move, seen as a declaration of trade war by the affected countries.

Responding to the 10% tariff announced by Trump on Chinese goods, Beijing vowed to take “countermeasures to defend its legitimate rights and interests.”

The Chinese foreign ministry, in an official statement, said that the US tariff violates global trade rules and could disrupt cooperation on drug control efforts between the two countries.

“Trade and tariff wars have no winners,” China’s foreign ministry said. “The US’s unilateral tariff hikes severely violate World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules,” it added.

Beijing cautioned that these measures would fail to resolve the economic challenges in the US and would be detrimental to both nations.

Addressing the issue of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid associated with overdose deaths in the US, China asserted that it has implemented stringent controls on the drug and has cooperated with Washington on the issue.

“In the spirit of humanity and goodwill, China has given support to the US’s response to this issue,” the foreign ministry said.

“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 statement said.

It emphasised that China classified all fentanyl-related substances as a controlled category in 2019, a step it said was taken at the request of Washington.

China said it has engaged in broad cooperation with the US on drug control and called for a “rational” approach to the issue.

Beijing warned that further tariffs could impact its willingness to collaborate on counternarcotics efforts.

"China calls on the US to correct its wrongdoings, maintain the hard-won positive dynamics in the counternarcotics cooperation, and promote the steady, sound and sustainable development of the China-US relationship," the foreign ministry said.