President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday that former Senator David Perdue has accepted his nomination to serve as the next U.S. ambassador to China.
"As a Fortune 500 CEO, who had a 40-year International business career, and served in the U.S. Senate, David brings valuable expertise to help build our relationship with China," Trump said on his Truth Social platform. He also noted that Perdue has spent much of his career working in China and elsewhere in Asia.
"He will be instrumental in implementing my strategy to maintain Peace in the region, and a productive working relationship with China's leaders," Trump said.
David Perdue net worth
Perdue, who became Georgia's senior senator after Johnny Isakson resigned on December 31, 2019, was reported to have an estimated net worth of $15.8 million. Perdue was one of the wealthiest members of the Senate as of February 2018.
US-China relation
The relationship between the U.S. and China, the world's two largest economies, is often considered the most significant globally. Though tensions reached their lowest point in decades in recent years, both President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping have made efforts to improve relations, despite ongoing disputes over trade, technology, human rights, and the status of Taiwan.
Trump, set to take office in January, initiated a trade war with China during his first term and has pledged to impose tariffs of 60% or more on all Chinese imports in his second term. Last week, he announced he would impose an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods unless China takes stronger action to curb the international flow of fentanyl precursor chemicals.
Perdue, who visited China as part of a congressional delegation in 2018, said in a Fox News commentary that the U.S. needs to "wake up and do a better job competing with China."
"America's outdated view of China could result in lost opportunities, or even worse, dangerous miscalculations or complacency," the senators wrote. "We must have a long-term plan to compete and deal with China's rising economic and geopolitical influence."
