President Donald Trump has threatened a new form of retaliation in the escalating trade war with China, stating that his administration is considering an embargo on Chinese cooking oil in response to Beijing’s ongoing refusal to purchase U.S. soybeans.
In a post on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday, Trump accused China of committing an “Economically Hostile Act” by “purposefully not buying our Soybeans.”
He said that “terminating business with China having to do with Cooking Oil” was a form of “retribution” he was weighing, adding, “we can easily produce Cooking Oil ourselves.”
The threat is a direct response to the “soybean snub.” China, which was historically the top international buyer of U.S. soybeans, has not purchased a single shipment since May amid the simmering trade war. Instead, Beijing has been sourcing the crop from South American producers.
This includes Argentina, which controversially suspended its own export taxes on soybeans on the same day the Trump administration first pledged a major economic aid package to the country. Trump’s new threat against China came just hours after he met with Argentine President Javier Milei at the White House.
The article adds an important nuance to the cooking oil trade. While Trump threatened to stop buying from China, the U.S. is actually a major importer of used cooking oil from China, accounting for 43% of China’s record-high exports of the product in 2024.
This latest threat is part of a recent series of erratic remarks from the president that have sent stock markets “careening up and down.”
The S&P 500 stock index fell immediately after his social media post on Tuesday.
The move follows a volatile few days in which Trump first threatened a new 100% tariff on Chinese goods in retaliation for Beijing’s restrictions on rare-earth minerals, only to then post a more conciliatory message over the weekend before issuing this new threat.
