Trump mulls ending some trade ties with China, including in relation to cooking oil

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday Washington was considering terminating some trade ties with China, including in relation to cooking oil.

"I believe that China purposefully not buying our Soybeans, and causing difficulty for our Soybean Farmers, is an Economically Hostile Act. We are considering terminating business with China having to do with Cooking Oil, and other elements of Trade, as retribution," Trump wrote on social media.

"As an example, we can easily produce Cooking Oil ourselves, we don't need to purchase it from China."

China has sharply reduced U.S. soybean purchases, which Trump has called a negotiation tactic. Trump said this month he hopes to discuss soybeans with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping while also warning the U.S. may halt a large share of imports from China.

China is the world’s largest buyer of soybeans, and in recent months has sharply reduced purchases of U.S. soy in favor of sourcing from Brazil and Argentina amid tariff and trade disputes.

Trump has targeted China with a cascade of tariff orders on billions of dollars of imported goods that he says is aimed at narrowing a wide trade deficit, bringing back lost manufacturing and crippling the fentanyl trade.

Washington and Beijing have had strained ties for years, especially with Trump in office. They have been at odds over issues like trade tariffs, technology, human rights, the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical matters such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Ukraine.