President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday that he will nominate former Georgia senator David Perdue to be his ambassador to China.
Trump said in a social media post that Purdue, a former CEO, “brings valuable expertise to help build our relationship with China.” Perdue pushed Trump’s lies about election fraud during his failed bid for Georgia governor.
Perdue lost his Senate seat to Democrat Jon Ossoff four years ago and was unsuccessful in a primary against Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.
Trump has threatened to impose sweeping new taxes on Mexico, Canada and China as soon as he takes office as part of his efforts to crack down on illegal immigration and drugs. As his first executive order, he said he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the country from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10% tax on goods coming from China.
The Chinese embassy in Washington warned earlier this week that there would be losses on all sides if a trade war broke out.
“China-US economic and trade cooperation is mutually beneficial in nature,” embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu posted on X. “Nobody is going to win a trade war or a #tariffwar.” He said that last year, China took steps to stop drug trafficking.
It is unclear whether Trump will follow through on the threats or if he is using them as a negotiating tactic.
The tariffs, if enacted, could dramatically raise prices for American consumers on everything from gas to automobiles to agricultural products. The U.S. is the largest importer of goods in the world, with Mexico, China and Canada as its top three suppliers, according to the most recent U.S. Census data.