President Donald Trump threatened to escalate the trade war with China in a post online Tuesday, noting that his administration may end business with the country for cooking oil.
“I believe that China purposefully not buying our Soybeans, and causing difficulty for our Soybean Farmers, is an Economically Hostile Act,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“We are considering terminating business with China having to do with Cooking Oil, and other elements of Trade, as retribution,” he continued.
Trump said the United States can “easily” produce cooking oil domestically and there is no need to purchase it from China.
In 2024 alone, China imported nearly $12.8 billion worth of U.S. soybeans, CNBC reported.
But now, as China protests Trump’s trade war, the country has not purchased U.S. soybeans since May 2025.
Last year, China exported a record high amount of cooking oil and the United States accounted for 43% of the purchases, CNBC noted.
Trump said last week that he was considering expanding tariff fees in response to China making changes to its export policies for rare earth minerals. He said there would be a “massive increase” of tariffs on Chinese products.
However, on Sunday, Trump backed off his threat and told people to not “worry about China” because “it will all be fine.”
Trump’s post Tuesday is the latest development in the trade war between the administration and China after the president implemented his “Liberation Day” tariff agenda earlier this year.
The president’s varying tariffs have impacted the cost of many goods coming from China. Trump argues that the plan is to bring manufacturing back to the United States and decrease the trade deficit with other countries.