US President Donald Trump stated on Tuesday that he was considering a halt to imports of Chinese cooking oil, a move prompted by China's decision to refrain from purchasing US soybeans.

"I believe that China purposefully not buying our Soybeans, and causing difficulty for our Soybean Farmers, is an Economically Hostile Act," Trump stated on his TruthSocial social media platform. He added that "We are considering terminating business with China having to do with Cooking Oil, and other elements of Trade, as retribution. As an example, we can easily produce Cooking Oil ourselves, we don’t need to purchase it from China."

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that while he maintains a strong relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the dynamic occasionally becomes tense due to Beijing’s conduct. 

Speaking to reporters, Trump said he has “a great relationship with President Xi” but acknowledged that “sometimes it gets testy because China likes to take advantage of people, and they can't take advantage of us,” adding that the US maintains “a fair relationship with China” and that “it'll be fine,” though “if it's not, that's okay too.”

China has delayed a planned phone call with the United States after Washington sought discussions regarding Beijing’s recent export restrictions, US Trade Representative Jamison Greer said on October 12.

“As soon as we learned about this from open sources, we approached the Chinese side with a proposal for a phone conversation, but they postponed it,” Greer told Fox News.

Greer said on that Washington became aware of China’s new export restrictions through public reports rather than formal communication, warning that Beijing would face “consequences”, adding that despite the rising tensions, a meeting between Trump and his Chinese counterpart is in line, emphasizing that there is space to restore stability in trade relations.

The US is essentially inflicting pain on its own farmers. China’s move to stop buying US soybeans is a retaliatory act in the trade war, not some random refusal.

By throttling off a major export market, China has weakened America’s soybean industry, making farmers vulnerable. Now, Trump is threatening to ban cooking oil imports from China in retaliation, jumping from self-harm to counter-measures.