Trump picks Peter Navarro, architect of US-China trade war, for senior counsellor role

Beijing-sanctioned economist who spent time in federal prison tasked with advancing White House agendas on ‘manufacturing, tariff and trade’

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Peter Navarro speaks before Donald Trump takes the stage at a campaign event in Concord, New Hampshire, on October 21, 2024. Photo: AP

Published: 12:25am, 5 Dec 2024Updated: 3:18am, 5 Dec 2024

US president-elect Donald Trump has named Peter Navarro, his previous economic adviser sanctioned by Beijing since 2021, as senior counsellor for trade and manufacturing in his next White House term.

Navarro, 75, will be tasked with helping to “successfully advance and communicate the Trump manufacturing, tariff and trade agendas”, Trump posted on social media on Wednesday.

“During my first term, few were more effective or tenacious than Peter in enforcing my two sacred rules, Buy American, Hire American,” wrote Trump, adding that the new position would leverage Navarro’s “broad range of White House experience”.

In Trump’s first term, Navarro served as director of the newly created White House National Trade Council. He has been a staunch proponent of protectionist US trade policies.

Peter Navarro, a key architect of America’s trade war with China, raises his fist while speaking during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in July. Photo: AP

He was considered a key architect of America’s trade war with China and was among 28 senior officials sanctioned by Beijing a day after US President Joe Biden was sworn into office in January 2021.