Trump escalates China trade row with threat to cut cooking oil purchases
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The news: US President Donald Trump said his administration is considering ending cooking oil trade with China, in response to what he described as Beijing’s deliberate refusal to buy US soybeans.
Calling China’s refusal to buy US soybeans an “Economically Hostile Act,” Trump said on his social media site that the move was “causing difficulty for our Soybean Farmers.”
He then warned of possible retribution targeting “Cooking Oil, and other elements of Trade.”
He added that the US “can easily produce Cooking Oil ourselves, we don’t need to purchase it from China.”
The context: Trump’s comments reversed a brief market rebound and reignited investor fears of a full-blown trade war.
Earlier, both Trump and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer had sounded hopeful about progress in trade talks, helping lift markets.
But the president’s social media post threatening to cut cooking oil trade with China sent the S&P 500 negative by the close.
Imports of used cooking oil from China reached a record in 2024, according to data from the US Agriculture Department cited by Bloomberg. Cooking oil and soybeans are both key feedstocks for renewable diesel.
What they said: "I believe that China purposefully not buying our Soybeans, and causing difficulty for our Soybean Farmers, is an Economically Hostile Act," Trump posted.
"We are considering terminating business with China having to do with Cooking Oil, and other elements of Trade, as retribution. As an example, we can easily produce Cooking Oil ourselves, we don’t need to purchase it from China."
The sources: Trump’s post, Bloomberg
