President Donald Trump threatened to halt cooking oil trade with China as retaliation for Beijing’s continued refusal to purchase US soybeans, calling it an “Economically Hostile Act” aimed at harming American farmers. The move reignited tensions between the world’s two largest economies, shaking markets and boosting shares of major agricultural firms, according to Bloomberg. Trump claimed the US could easily produce its own cooking oil, amid growing scrutiny of record-high Chinese imports of used cooking oil used in renewable fuels. While both nations are engaged in ongoing trade talks and a meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled, Trump also warned of a possible 100% tariff on Chinese goods and suggested the summit could be canceled if China continues restricting key mineral exports. They write:
US President Donald Trump said he might stop trade in cooking oil with China, injecting fresh tensions into the relationship between the world’s two largest economies.
Trump on Tuesday cast the potential move as retaliation against Beijing for its refusal to buy American soybeans, which he said “is an Economically Hostile Act” that is purposefully “causing difficulty for our Soybean Farmers.” China remains well supplied with the oilseed, largely thanks to South American purchases. […]
Used cooking oil, or UCO, became a flashpoint in the US last year, with imports employed to make renewable diesel fuel raising concerns that American soy farmers were missing out on demand. Imports from China reached a record high in 2024, according to the Agriculture Department. […]
Trump’s comments Tuesday come as farmers are suffering from low crop prices while China has been avoiding US soybeans. The administration has vowed to ease growers’ pain with an aid package, though that has been stalled by the government shutdown. […]
“Our agreement was we’re going to keep our tariffs low if you keep the rare earths flowing, they’re now saying that they’re going to control more rare earths and downstream products. And so it makes sense that, you know, we can raise our tariffs,” he said.
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