President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Peter Navarro as the senior counselor for the Office of Trade and Manufacturing. Trump made the announcement through a post on Truth Social on Wednesday, Dec. 4.
Navarro is no stranger to the White House. He previously served in a similar role during Trump’s first term as president.
Further in the announcement, Trump said Navarro will “help successfully advance and communicate the Trump Manufacturing, Tariff and Trade Agendas.”
In the weeks following his presidential win, Trump has threatened a 25% tariff on Mexico and Canada, and a 60% tariff on Chinese imports.
Navarro wanted more aggressive tariffs during Trump’s initial administration. He aided the former president during trade deals between South Korea and the United States. Trump also credited Navarro with enforcing his rules to buy American products and hire American workers.
NAFTA was later replaced during Trump’s term with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The USMCA took effect in 2020 and Trump claimed he replaced NAFTA with the USMCA to “help grow the North American economy.”
Trump also claimed Navarro was “treated horribly by the Deep State,” referencing Navarro’s recent stint in a Miami federal prison. Navarro served four months for going against a subpoena from the House committee as it investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Within a day of the announcement, Navarro released an opinion post on the Washington Times. In it, he described his conviction as unjust and expressed his frustration for Hunter Biden’s sweeping pardon.
Navarro obtained a doctorate degree in economics from Harvard University and later worked as a professor in California.
He also previously ran for San Diego mayor in the ’90s and later as a Democratic nominee for Congress.
