On January 7, 2014, President Barack Obama nominated Max Sieben Baucus to be Ambassador of the United States of America to China.  The Senate confirmed him on February 6, 2014 and Vice President Joe Biden swore him in on February 21, 2014. Ambassador Baucus served until January 20, 2017.

Ambassador Baucus formerly served as the senior United States Senator from Montana.  He served in the U.S. Senate from 1978 to 2013, was Montana’s longest serving U.S. Senator, and had the third longest tenure among those serving in the U.S. Senate.  Ambassador Baucus was Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Finance, Vice Chairman of the Joint Committee on Taxation, member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, and member of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction.  He was also a member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and chaired its Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure.  Before his election to the U.S. Senate, Ambassador Baucus was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1975 to 1978.  He previously served in the Montana House of Representatives from 1973 to 1974.

Ambassador Baucus has extensive experience in international trade.  As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Ambassador Baucus led the passage and enactment of Free Trade Agreements with 11 countries: Australia, Bahrain, Jordan, Chile, Colombia, Morocco, Oman, Panama, Peru, Singapore, and South Korea.  He also worked to increase U.S. exports by knocking down trade barriers and led business leaders on trade missions abroad to Germany, Spain, Belgium, Russia, Japan, New Zealand, Brazil, Colombia, and China.  During his tenure on the Senate Committee on Finance, Ambassador Baucus was deeply involved in orchestrating congressional approval of permanent normal trade relations with China in 2000 and in facilitating China’s entrance into the World Trade Organization in 2001.

Ambassador Baucus earned a bachelor’s degree and law degree from Stanford University.  He is married and has three children.