WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Rick Scott sent a letter to U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue as he works to advance President Trump’s agenda to put American families first, protect our national security interests, and hold Communist China accountable for its role in pushing dangerous fentanyl into our nation. In his letter, Senator Scott notes several of his priorities to help advance the president’s agenda, and calls on Ambassador Perdue to take an uncompromising stance against the dangerous and deceitful Communist Chinese regime – an adversarial nation that lies, cheats, spies, and has proven it will go to any length to destroy America, our businesses, and our way of life in its mission for global domination.

Senator Scott has led several legislative efforts to hold Communist China accountable and protect our national security, including his Drones for America Act, No Adversarial AI Act, Prying into Chinese Tyrants’ Unreported Riches, Earnings, and Secrets (PICTURES) Act, Military Installation Retail Security Act, No Safe Harbor for the Enemy Act, and legislative package to crack down on Communist China’s exploitation of U.S. markets.

Read the full letter HERE or below.

Dear Ambassador Perdue:

I would first like to congratulate you on your confirmation as the new U.S. Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). This new role puts you at the center of advancing President Trump’s agenda to protect American families, American jobs, and our national security from Communist China. You have a unique opportunity to set the tone for a new U.S.-China relationship – one that prioritizes American jobs and American workers. To do so, we must accept that Communist Dictator Xi Jinping’s regime in Beijing will never willingly change and has repeatedly designated America as its greatest enemy that seeks to destroy and undermine our nation. 

I appreciate President Trump’s work to bring Xi to the table on a potential deal with Communist China and ensure American businesses are treated fairly. If anyone can hold Communist China accountable, it’s President Trump. However, we cannot forget this is a regime that has shown the United States it cannot be trusted and has failed to uphold its end of every agreement it has made. They do not share our values or our interests, and we shouldn’t be so naïve to think they do. 

In this role, I encourage you to put Americans’ and American businesses’ best interests first and pursue and prioritize policies that hold Communist China fully accountable for its actions with strict compliance to U.S. laws and regulations. In doing so, I ask that you consider the following:

First, Chinese companies cannot be allowed access to U.S. financial markets, especially if they continue to refuse to comply with U.S. laws and regulations that aim to protect American businesses and investors. Currently, a Biden-era Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) agreement allows Chinese companies the ability to present financial and regulatory information on their terms, instead of allowing American inspectors access to ensure their compliance with U.S. exchange regulations, just like American companies must. This goes against every intention of the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act by enabling more than 170 Chinese companies to continue operating on U.S. exchanges despite reports of noncompliant practices. I encourage you to work with Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins to review the 2022 PCAOB decision and ensure future inspectors are allowed free and unedited access to Chinese auditing companies, or face the consequences of delisting and registering from our exchanges.

Second, as President Trump has made clear, we must address Communist China’s central role in the production and shipment of fentanyl precursors, fueling the fentanyl crisis that has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans, with 78,000 last year alone. Communist China has knowingly exploited trade loopholes and deceptive inspection practices to do so. No friend of the United States would intentionally send drugs into our nation and kill our families. President Trump has rightly noted to the global community that trade with the United States is a privilege, not a right. Communist China has continued to abuse this privilege, and Americans have paid the price with their lives. That cannot be ignored. 

Given the link of these dangerous fentanyl precursors to Chinese manufacturing facilities, I encourage you to ensure the Food and Drug Administration’s inspectors are provided unfettered access to all facilities in China that produce or export biomaterials to the United States to stop these chemicals from ever entering our country. 

Similarly, we must also commit to enforcing unfettered inspection access to meat, poultry, eggs, produce, and other consumer products. Communist China has not allowed U.S. inspectors to ensure quality control and inspection protocols for these products, and considering Communist China’s disgusting method of growing garlic in sewage water and using slave labor, we cannot take unnecessary risks with Americans’ health. 

Third, Communist China must no longer be allowed to shirk its trade responsibilities. Beyond its blatant abuse of U.S. trade, Communist China has failed to fulfill its obligations under the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its commitments under the United States-China Economic and Trade Agreement (Phase One Agreement, signed in January 2020). As President Trump continues to work toward holding Communist China accountable, the United States must make clear to Xi Jinping and his cronies that President Trump is no weak Joe Biden. They should expect no further tolerance for their deceptive and destructive behavior. More than two decades following their ascension to the WTO, there is simply no reason, other than a willing refusal to do so, that Communist China cannot fulfill the basic obligations that we require and expect of every other WTO country. As recent as this year, the Office of the United States Trade Representative’s 2025 Special 301 Report on Intellectual Property Protection and Enforcement highlights that the PRC is a “priority watch list” country. This is why the president’s work to restructure our trade relationship is so important – it facilitates the continued decoupling of the U.S. and Chinese economies. The United States can no longer tolerate unfair and unenforced standards that undermine our interests.

It is clear that Communist China has proven to be our enemy. They have lied, cheated, spied and will go to great lengths to destroy America, our businesses, and our way of life in its mission for global domination. You cannot trust a single word the regime says. And if we cannot trust China, we should not depend on China, nor should we send a single tax dollar to the nation to fuel the regime.

I appreciate your work and your focus on holding Communist China accountable. I welcome the opportunity to discuss your plans to protect American economic and national security in your new role.

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