US President Donald Trump on Wednesday slammed China for holding back purchases of American soybeans amid the trade war and threatened to terminate cooking oil imports.
"I believe that China purposefully not buying our Soybeans, and causing difficulty for our Soybean Farmers, is an Economically Hostile Act. We are considering terminating business with China having to do with Cooking Oil, and other elements of Trade, as retribution," Trump posted on Truth Social.
He said the US can "easily produce cooking oil" to reduce import dependence on China.
Chinese exports of used cooking oil to the US were already in retreat well before Trump chose them as the latest flashpoint in his trade war with Beijing.
Having hit a record 1.27 million tons worth $1.2 billion in 2024, Chinese sales to the US of processed edible oils, which include UCO, plunged this year after Beijing scrapped tax relief on exports from Dec. 1, as per a Bloomberg News report.
On the other hand, China has significantly reduced imports of US soybeans in response to Trump's aggressive trade war. Instead, the Chinese have secured deals for large quantities of soybeans from Brazil.
The US is one of the largest producers of soybeans globally. Chinese soybean purchases last year totalled about $12.6 billion.
Notably, Beijing's aversion to imports has hit farmers in Republican-controlled states in the US, a key political constituency for Trump.
The Trump administration has vowed to ease growers’ pain with an aid package, though now stalled by the government shutdown. Still, many farmers have stressed that they would prefer a trade deal with China over a handout, as per reports.
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