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Dow Jones NewsOct 14, 8:26 PM UTC
DJ Trump Opens New Front In China Trade War: Cooking Oil -- Barrons.com
By Reshma Kapadia and Liz Moyer
President Donald Trump has opened a new front in the trade war with China: cooking oil.
Calling China's decision not to buy soybeans from American farmers purposeful and "an Economically Hostile Act," Trump said on his social media account that the administration was considering terminating business with China having to do with cooking oil and "other elements of trade." He called it retribution.
"We can easily produce Cooking Oil ourselves, we don't need to purchase it from China," Trump said in the post, which appeared at 3:37 p.m. Eastern time and sent shockwaves through the stock market.
The S&P 500 had staged a recovery from steep losses earlier in the day but reversed course after Trump's post appeared and ended the day in the red, down 0.2%.
It is just the latest salvo in the escalating tensions between the two sides.
U.S. and China officials at the senior staff level talked on Monday following a flare-up in trade tensions between the two geopolitical rivals, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told CNBC in an Tuesday interview.
Last week, Beijing unveiled sweeping export controls on rare-earth minerals, prompting President Donald Trump to threaten 100% tariffs on China on top of the average effective tariffs of 55% already in place.
Greer noted a willingness from his Chinese counterparts to talk to defuse the tensions that upended a fragile detente between the two rivals. But he also said Trump's threat of 100% tariffs on Nov. 1 or sooner still holds -- and is based on what the Chinese do.
"We can't have a situation where the Chinese keep this regime in place where they want to have veto power over the world's high-tech supply chains," Greer said. "They are the ones who chose to make this major escalation. Our agreement was that we would keep our tariffs low if you keep the rare earths flowing."
A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C., didn't immediately respond to Barron's request for comment.
Greer said China's expansion of export controls on rare earths critical for autos, technology, and defense came out of nowhere and was "completely disproportionate" to measures the U.S. has taken on semiconductors.
China's move, he said, was broad-based, impacting the entire world and a range of products -- including low-tech items. China's restrictions have not yet gone into effect.
"It's basic materials that they're trying to control," Greer said. "The Chinese need other people to buy products that contain these things -- iPhones and computers and other things. They are really shooting themselves in the foot."
Beijing has said its move mirrored measures the U.S. had taken in the past to restrict China's access to critical technology, including semiconductor equipment, and followed the U.S. expanding its list of blacklisted companies to include more Chinese businesses.
Overnight, China's Ministry of Commerce said if China is forced to fight, "it will fight to the end," but also said the door is always open for talks.
Markets have taken some relief in a toning-down in rhetoric from both sides. Greer said he thinks the U.S. will be able to work through the latest impasse. While unclear if it will happen, he also noted the meeting between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation at the end of the month is still on the schedule.
"The strategy in Beijing is that they believe they have been successful in pushing back at everything Trump has thrown at them," says Andy Rothman, head of China-focused research firm Sinology. "They may be on autopilot that every action requires an action."
That said, Rothman still thinks Beijing would prefer some sort of deal to escalation. He puts 70% odds on a Trump-Xi meetup that results in some sort of framework to reduce economic and political tensions that helps again stabilize the relationship.
Write to Reshma Kapadia at reshma.kapadia@barrons.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
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October 14, 2025 16:26 ET (20:26 GMT)
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