President-elect Donald Trump’s expected selection of Senator Marco Rubio and Representative Mike Waltz as his Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, respectively, signals that China will be at the center of US foreign policy, escalating tensions between the US and China will increase.

Rubio and Waltz are both staunch China hawks. Rubio was even sanctioned twice by Beijing in 2020 and could still be banned from entering China.

The mention of Rubio and Waltz is a “strong sign that Trump’s foreign policy priority will focus on China above all else,” said Neil Thomas, a fellow on Chinese politics at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis. While there will be a near-term focus on finding a solution to the wars abroad, “the next four years will be China – by far the biggest focus,” he said.

That agrees with what Waltz himself said. Earlier this month, he wrote in The Economist that the US “urgently” needs to end conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East so that the US can “finally focus strategic attention where it should be: countering the greater the threat from the Chinese Communist Party.”

Rubio has called China the “threat that will define this century” and supported a bill to prevent the import of goods from China’s Uyghur minority. Waltz, who has said the US is in a “cold war” with China, called on the US to boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Trump has promised to impose 60% tariffs on Chinese goods. Experts say he is likely to take action on tariffs early, as an easy win that he can act on unilaterally to show he is delivering on a key campaign promise. It will be deeply disruptive to US-China relations and to American business. As a result, experts say there will likely be heavy lobbying from Trump’s business allies to limit tariffs to a few key sectors.

In addition to tariffs, the U.S. has a “huge economic warfare toolkit” that the Trump administration could use, according to Thomas, including more sanctions on Chinese companies and expanding export controls to more industries.

But billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk could be a moderating voice for a softer approach to China amid all this. Musk has major business interests in China and could become an important intermediary for the dialogue between Trump and China’s Xi Jinping.

Telsa is dependent on China for its production and as a key consumer market. Musk is a household name in China and will be given the red carpet by Chinese officials during his visit.

Musk could become the “key interlocutor” between Xi and Trump, said Ian Beerder, the founder of Eurasia Group. “I think Elon would definitely be interested in it.”

The Chinese government will “certainly” contact Musk to see how they can use him to influence Trump, Beerder added.

About half of all Tesla EVs are made in China, and Musk has received benefits from the Chinese government that are rarely given to foreign players. Musk has even parroted Beijing’s views on geopolitical issues, saying Taiwan is an “integral part of China.”

Either way, Beijing is bracing for a volatile four years under Trump. Beijing is trying to revive a struggling economy, and the uncertainty about a Trump presidency is “very worrying,” Bremmer said. “They will want the relationship to be more constructive in this environment because this is a bad time for them to have a crisis.”