China told the United States on Tuesday to "stop smearing and shifting blame" on the causes of its fentanyl crisis, condemning Washington's "unreasonable" tariffs imposed over the issue.

China and the US on Monday announced a deal to drastically reduce tit-for-tat tariffs for 90 days, an outcome US President Donald Trump dubbed a "total reset".

Under that agreement, the United States agreed to lower its tariffs on Chinese goods to 30 percent while China will reduce its own to 10 percent.

The US additional tariff rate remains higher than China's because it includes a 20 percent levy over Trump's complaints about Chinese exports of chemicals used to make fentanyl.

The United States has seen tens of thousands of deaths related to opioids like fentanyl annually, though the latest figures – for 2023 – showed a decrease from the prior year.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Monday that "both the Chinese and United States agreed to work constructively together on fentanyl and there is a positive path forward there as well."

Asked on Tuesday about prospects for talks on the issue, Beijing reiterated its position that it is not responsible for the opioid addiction epidemic in the United States.

"Fentanyl is the United States' issue, it is not China's issue," Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said.

"The United States has ignored China's goodwill and imposed unreasonable fentanyl tariffs on China, seriously disturbing cooperation between China and the US in the area of drug control and seriously harming China's interests.

"If the US really wants to cooperate with China, it should stop smearing and shifting blame onto China and engage in dialogue in an equal, respectful and mutually beneficial way," he said. (AFP)