China said it has forcefully cracked down on the fentanyl trade and condemned President Donald Trump’s tariffs, as the world’s two largest economies remain at odds over the conditions for any talks to cool tensions.

China said on Wednesday that the U.S. has undermined bilateral counter-narcotics cooperation by imposing tariffs on Chinese goods over fentanyl, calling on Washington to stop using the issue as a bargaining chip to "blackmail" the country.

The US, where fentanyl abuse has been a major cause of death, has pushed China for deeper law enforcement cooperation, including tackling illicit finance, arrests of rogue chemists and raids of labs

China accuses the U.S. of undermining bilateral counter-narcotics efforts by imposing tariffs to penalize fentanyl shipments. Tensions escalate as China calls out Washington for using the crisis as leverage,

Canadian and Chinese officials say they were already helping reduce fentanyl smuggling. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said fentanyl crossing the northern border is "near zero."

China is willing to do more to address U.S. concerns about illicit fentanyl trade, an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told reporters Wednesday.