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Nominee confirmed with bipartisan support

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In business, Perdue was criticized over offshored US jobs

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Confirmation occurs as Trump's tariffs roil world markets

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Military build-up, pressure on Taiwan factors in relations

By Michael Martina, Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON, April 29 (Reuters) - A majority of the U.S.

Senate on Tuesday backed one-time U.S. Senator David Perdue to

be ambassador to China, a position the former business executive

assumes amid a deep strategic rivalry and blistering trade war

between the two countries.

The vote was 67 to 29 in favor of confirming President Donald

Trump's nominee, who was a Republican U.S. senator from Georgia

from 2015 to 2021 and previously lived in Hong Kong during a

40-year career as an international business executive.

Fifteen Democrats and one independent who caucuses with the

Democrats joined Trump's fellow Republicans in backing Perdue

for the position.

Despite being a critic of China and its ruling Communist

Party, Perdue has faced some pushback over his business track

record of supporting offshoring U.S. jobs to countries with

lower labor costs, a practice Trump has railed against for

hollowing out the U.S. manufacturing base.

Last year, Perdue condemned Chinese President Xi Jinping as

a "modern-day emperor," writing in an essay that Beijing wanted

to "destroy capitalism and democracy" and the U.S.-led world

order.

In nominating Perdue, Trump had said he would be

instrumental in implementing a "productive working relationship

with China's leaders." During his confirmation hearing in early

April, Perdue said the U.S. approach to China must be "nuanced,

nonpartisan, and strategic."

Perdue's nomination marked a return to the frequent practice

over recent decades of sending former politicians to the U.S.

embassy in Beijing, after Democratic President Joe Biden tapped

veteran diplomat Nicholas Burns in 2021.

EXACT ROLE UNCLEAR

It was not immediately clear how central a role Perdue would

play in the fraught U.S.-China relationship. Since beginning his

second White House term on Jan. 20, Trump has unleashed 145%

tariffs on most Chinese goods over what his administration sees

as decades of trade abuses by China. Beijing responded with its

own 125% tariffs on U.S. products.

"In this administration, diplomacy with Beijing will be

driven from the top. Trump - and key figures like the Treasury

and Commerce secretaries - will likely play the dominant roles

in any substantive engagement with China, if for no other reason

than Trump really considers himself Negotiator-in-Chief," said

Craig Singleton, senior director for China at the Foundation for

Defense of Democracies.

Adding to global trade confusion

, Trump has repeatedly urged Xi to call him for discussions

about a potential trade deal, but Beijing has

publicly denied

such a call has taken place recently and said tariff

negotiations had not begun.

Economists broadly warn that the tariffs will lead to

higher prices for U.S. consumers and increase the risk of

recession. And the fallout from the

trade war

reverberated further through the

corporate world

on Tuesday, as delivery giant

UPS

said it would cut 20,000 jobs to lower costs, while

General Motors ( GM )

pulled its outlook and pushed its investor call to

Thursday pending possible changes to trade policy.

Nonetheless, Trump administration officials say the two

sides are in routine working-level contact and have signaled

some desire to defuse tensions. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott

Bessent said both sides see the current state of play as

untenable.

Beyond trade, Beijing and Washington face a host of serious

disputes, including tensions over China's military build-up and

its pressure toward Taiwan and other U.S. partners and allies in

the Indo-Pacific region.