Travis Hutchison, a soybean farmer, unloads his cargo from his family’s truck at a local grain dealer in Queen Anne, Maryland, on Oct. 10, 2025. <\/p>\n
Roberto Schmidt | AFP | Getty Images<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump<\/a> on Tuesday said his administration is considering “terminating business<\/a> with China<\/a> having to do with Cooking Oil” in retaliation for Beijing refusing to buy U.S. soybeans.<\/p>\n China is committing an “Economically Hostile Act” by “purposefully not buying our Soybeans, and causing difficulty for our Soybean Farmers,” Trump said in a Truth Social post<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ending business with China on cooking oil and “other elements of Trade” are possible forms of “retribution” that Trump said he was weighing.<\/p>\n “As an example, we can easily produce Cooking Oil ourselves, we don’t need to purchase it from China,” he wrote.<\/p>\n China has been the top buyer of U.S. soybeans by far, importing some 27 million metric tons valued at nearly $12.8 billion in 2024 alone.<\/p>\n But amid a simmering trade war with the Trump administration, Beijing has not bought a single American soybean since May.<\/p>\n Read more CNBC coverage on U.S.-China trade rift<\/p>\n With retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods making soybeans pricier for Chinese importers, China has been sourcing the crop instead from producers in South America<\/a>.<\/p>\n One of those suppliers is Argentina, which reportedly suspended export taxes on the same day that the Trump administration first pledged<\/a> to bolster the country’s economy with a $20 billion currency swap<\/a>.<\/p>\n Argentina President Javier Milei visited Trump<\/a> at the White House on Tuesday, hours before the U.S. leader issued his latest salvo against China.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, China’s exports of used cooking oil hit record highs in 2024, with the U.S. accounting for 43% of the total.<\/p>\n Trump’s social media post follows a recent spate of critical remarks<\/a> he has made about China, raising questions about the status of ongoing trade talks and sending stocks careening up and down.<\/p>\n The S&P 500<\/a> stock index fell immediately after Trump’s post, ending the trading day in the red after a volatile session.<\/p>\n Stocks tanked on Friday after Trump threatened to massively increase tariffs on Chinese imports in retaliation for new export controls that China imposed on rare earth minerals<\/a>. Later that day, Trump said he would impose an additional 100% tariff on Chinese imports starting on Nov. 1.<\/p>\n But on Sunday, Trump appeared to soften his attack, writing<\/a>, “Don’t worry about China, it will all be fine!”<\/p>\n