Trade tensions between the U.S. and China have spilled into the agriculture sector.
U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to place an embargo on cooking oil imported from China in retaliation for Beijing refusing to buy U.S. %Soybeans.
On social media, Trump wrote that China is committing an “Economically Hostile Act” by “purposefully not buying our Soybeans and causing difficulty for our Soybean Farmers.”
As a result, Trump is threatening to end all imports of cooking oil from China. “We can easily produce Cooking Oil ourselves, we don’t need to purchase it from China,” wrote the president.
China has traditionally been the top buyer of U.S. soybeans, importing 27 million metric tons valued at nearly $12.8 billion U.S. in 2024.
But amid a trade war with the Trump administration, Beijing has not bought a single American soybean since May of this year. China has been sourcing the crop from South America instead.
At the same time, China’s exports of cooking oil to the U.S. hit record highs in 2024. America accounts for nearly half of all Chinese cooking oil exports.
Trump recently threatened to impose 100% tariffs on all Chinese imports effective Nov. 1 in retaliation for new export controls that China imposed on rare earth minerals.
The escalating trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies has rattled financial markets and led to increased volatility in recent trading sessions.
The situation is also weighing on leading agriculture stocks such as Nutrien (NYSE: $NTR) and Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE: $ADM).
