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.
Roberto Schmidt | AFP | Getty Images
President Donald Trump on Tuesday said his administration is considering “terminating business with China having to do with Cooking Oil” in retaliation for Beijing refusing to buy U.S. soybeans.
Trump said he believes China is committing an “Economically Hostile Act” by “purposefully not buying our Soybeans, and causing difficulty for our Soybean Farmers.”
Ending business with China on cooking oil and “other elements of Trade” are possible forms of “retribution” Trump is weighing, he said in a Truth Social post.
“As an example, we can easily produce Cooking Oil ourselves, we don’t need to purchase it from China,” he wrote.
The president’s latest criticism follows a recent spate of critical remarks he has made about China, raising questions about the status of ongoing trade talks and sending stocks careening up and down.
The S&P 500 stock index fell immediately after Trump’s post, ending the trading day in the red after a volatile session.
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. Later that day, Trump said he would impose an additional 100% tariff on Chinese imports starting on Nov. 1.
But on Sunday, Trump appeared to soften his attack, writing, “Don’t worry about China, it will all be fine!”
Stocks broadly rebounded on Monday.
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