"You don't know whether or not China's going to eat it," Trump said of the potential for tariffs on Chinese goods to increase consumer prices.

Donald Trump has repeatedly urged Xi Jinping to call him for discussions about a potential trade deal. But any off-ramp to the economic tensions will likely run through Vice Premier He Lifeng, who is Xi's Sino-American trade tsar.

The US Senate has confirmed that former Georgia Senator David Perdue will become ambassador to China, a key post amid the Trump administration's escalating trade tensions with Beijing. Perdue, who was nominated by Trump during the transition period in December,

The Senate has confirmed former Sen. David Perdue as ambassador to China, just as the U.S. and China are locked in a tariff showdown that threatens to redefine diplomatic relations between the world’s two largest economies.