Soybean farmer Travis Hutchison unloads his family’s truck at a local grain store in Queen Anne, Maryland, on October 10, 2025.
Robert Schmidt AFP | Getty Images
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his administration is considering “suspending transactions with China related to edible oils” in retaliation for Beijing’s refusal to buy U.S. soybeans.
In a post on Truth Social, President Trump said China was violating the “Economic Hostility Act” by “intentionally not buying our soybeans and creating hardship for our soybean farmers.”
He said ending deals with China on cooking oil and “other elements of trade” could be “retaliation” that Trump is considering.
“As an example, we can easily produce cooking oil ourselves and do not need to buy it from China,” he wrote.
China is by far the biggest buyer of U.S. soybeans, importing about 27 million tons worth about $12.8 billion in 2024 alone.
However, as the trade war with the Trump administration intensifies, the Chinese government has not purchased a single soybean from the United States since May.
China is sourcing soybeans from South American producers instead, as retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products have made soybean prices higher for Chinese importers.
One such supplier, Argentina, reportedly suspended export taxes on the same day the Trump administration pledged to shore up its economy with a $20 billion currency swap for the first time.
Argentine President Javier Milay visited President Trump at the White House on Tuesday, hours before the US leader fired his latest salvo against China.
Meanwhile, China’s used cooking oil exports reached a record high in 2024, with 43% of the total going to the United States.
President Trump’s social media posts follow a series of recent critical comments he has made regarding China, raising questions about the status of ongoing trade negotiations and sending stock prices up and down.
The S&P 500 stock index fell immediately after Trump’s remarks, ending the trading day in the red after volatile trading.
Stocks fell sharply on Friday after President Trump threatened to significantly increase tariffs on imports from China in retaliation for new export restrictions imposed by China on rare earth minerals. Later that day, President Trump announced that starting November 1, the United States would impose a 100% tariff on imports from China.
But on Sunday, President Trump seemed to soften his attacks, writing, “Don’t worry about China, everything will be fine!”
Stocks largely rebounded on Monday.
