Donald Trump picks ‘Death by China’ author for trade advisory role

Navarro is famous for his antagonistic view of China, with book titles that say it all: “The Coming China Wars” and “Crouching Tiger: What China’s Militarism Means for the World”. In October, the New Yorker referred to him as “Trump’s muse” on trade with China and said he was poised to become “the single most powerful economic adviser in the United States” should Trump win the presidency.

Mr. Navarro joins billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, Mr. Trump’s nominee for Commerce secretary, as powerful voices on trade when the new administration takes over in January. While Trump supporters say such policies will boost U.S.jobs, critics fear they could lead to trade wars, damaging the US economy.

Shen Danyang, spokesman for the ministry of commerce, told a news briefing in Beijing on Friday that the USA will continue to see mutual benefits from trade with China, and said the pattern of deepening cooperation between the two countries on trade will continue.

The Chinese government itself is being cautious and is reluctant to reveal its plans for possible retaliatory actions.

The government already has an entire agency devoted to trade negotiations, the U.S. Trade Representative, whose offices are less than a block from the White House, as well as two Cabinet departments and two other White House offices with a hand in trade policy.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Beijing was concerned by Trump’s policy direction.

Chinese economist Zhang Yunling was more frank about what may lay ahead.

In addition, Navarro supports Trump’s belief that there should be a 45 percent tariff on Chinese goods. “The global system will be in danger if that happens”.

Trump appointed Peter Navarro, a known China hawk and staunch critic of trade with China, as the head of the newly-created National Trade Council Wednesday.

Even progressive economist Dean Baker, who should know better, commented to the Wall Street Journal that Navarro and corporate raider Carl Icahn, who was named special adviser to Trump on regulations, are not “mainstream” – as if that was a bad thing. Since 1960, the USA has gone from having years of consecutive trade surpluses to massive deficits. “A trade war is becoming more likely”.

The paper also advocated a far more confrontational approach to dealing with global partners such as the World Trade Organization, threatening to pull out of the organization entirely unless USA goods receive more favorable treatment. In other words, if the US wiped out the $531 billion trade imbalance it had in 2015, its GDP would have gone from $17.9 trillion to $18.4 trillion. “I think it’s a get-tough-on-China message”, Kazianis said. He has alluded to dismissing the “One China” policy that maintains Taiwan is not an independent nation and has threatened to impose high tariffs on Chinese imports.

Wang told the state-run People’s Daily he will strive to boost cooperation with the USA but foresaw “new, complicated and uncertain factors affecting bilateral relations” under the Trump administration. “AFL-CIO opposed [China’s] World Trade Organization entry”, he said.

The latest move came as Chinese online retailer Alibaba was placed back on the United States list of “notorious markets” over counterfeit goods sales.

FILE – An array of paper lanterns hang in a display at Pearl River Mart, an emporium for Asian goods in NY.

He has dismissed warnings that retaliatory moves against China could spark a mutually destructive trade war, maintaining that China needs the US market too badly. China might also subject US companies to tighter regulation that hampers their capacity to do business.

Icahn, a brash NY billionaire who vocally supported Trump during the campaign, made his fortune as a corporate raider, buying stakes in corporations and demanding changes to reward shareholders. “[China’s Commerce Ministry] is quite busy now, I’m sure”, she said.