Trump names fierce critic of China to lead trade council
President-elect Donald Trump has named a fierce critic of China, economist Peter Navarro, to lead a newly created White House trade council.
The University of California-Irvine professor, who advised Trump during the campaign, will serve as head of the new White House National Trade Council and as director of trade and industrial policy.
In a statement, the Trump transition team said the creation of the council “demonstrates the president-elect’s determination to make American manufacturing great again.”
Mr. Trump says China’s unfair trade practices are responsible for wiping out American factory jobs and has threatened to impose taxes on Chinese imports. U.S. manufacturers have cut 5 million jobs since 2000.
Navarro, author of “Death By China,” also endorses a hard line approach toward relations with China.
In his bio on the University website, it says Navarro received his PhD in economics from Harvard University and is a business professor at The Paul Merage School of Business, University of California-Irvine.