CHICAGO, October 15, 2025 — President Trump said Tuesday that he’s considering a complete shutoff of cooking oil imports from China as retaliation against the Asian mega-power for halting its purchase of soybeans from U.S. farmers.
Trump aired the possibility in a post Tuesday on the social-media platform Truth Social. He stressed that the U.S. could easily compensate for the loss of Chinese oils by increasing domestic production of the frying media.
The threatened halt of cooking-oil imports was met with little alarm in the U.S., largely because the nation’s reliance on Chinese oils dropped sharply last year.
The oils are used for commercial and at-home cooking. But a significant portion of the imports consists of oils that were already used in Asia. In the U.S., the used oil goes into the production of diesel fuel.
“We don’t need to purchase it from China,” Trump said in the post.
With China emerging as a major target of Trump’s aggressive trade war, the world power has shifted its soybean purchases to Brazil and other South American nations. The nation was believed to be the major purchaser of U.S. soybeans, which it uses as feed for hogs.
The discontinuation of those purchases has been a major financial blow to American farmers. The White House has aired the possibility of providing financial assistance to that community, using proceeds from the President’s tariffs.
As Managing Editor for IFMA The Food Away from Home Association, Romeo is responsible for generating the group's news and feature content. He brings more than 40 years of experience in covering restaurants to the position.