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Donald Trump’s selection of Peter Navarro as Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing is further evidence of Trump’s intention to impose tariffs that will hurt Americans. During Trump’s first term, Navarro pushed for “steep” tariffs on foreign countries. Despite rising prices, decreasing incomes, and falling farm exports, Navarro denied tariffs were hurting the economy. If Trump’s plan to impose a 10% tariff are carried out in his second term, economists anticipate higher inflation and pain for U.S. companies. Navarro’s credibility has been further diminished by his habit of quoting a fictional expert in his books to support his viewpoints. After being confronted with the damaging allegation, Navarro claimed the whole incident was an “inside joke.” Perhaps most importantly, Peter Navarro is an enabler of Donald Trump’s most dangerous instincts. Navarro pushed false claims about the 2020 election and played a role in trying to convince Mike Pence to reject Joe Biden’s electoral votes. After refusing to cooperate with the January 6th committee investigators, Navarro was convicted of contempt of Congress and was sentenced to four months in prison. With Peter Navarro back in the White House, Donald Trump will have one more cheerleader for his reckless plans to raise prices and settle his own personal grievances. |
Peter Navarro Supported “Steep” Tariffs During Trump’s First Term. According to CBS, "As a trade adviser in the first Trump administration, Navarro endorsed 'America First' trade policies, including steep tariffs to protect domestic industries." [CBS, 12/4/24]
August 2019: Peter Navarro Stated Tariffs On China Were Not Hurting “Anybody” In The United States. According to Politifact, "Are the tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump on China hurting American consumers? His team says no. Peter Navarro, director of the White House’s Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, told CNN’s Jake Tapper that was not the case. Tapper asked about a study that found U.S. importers are shouldering about 95% of the price change from the tariffs, China only about 5%. After Navarro pushed back, there was this exchange: 'Tariffs aren't hurting anybody in the United States?' asked Tapper. Navarro responded, 'They're not hurting anybody here.'" [Politifact, 8/18/19]
2019: Trump’s Tariffs On China Led To Increased Prices And Decreasing Real Income. According to Politifact, "Evidence of how tariffs have hurt Americans has been accumulating for months. Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Costco and the recreational vehicle-maker Winnebago are among retailers that said they raised prices as a result of the tariffs. The trade war reduced U.S. real income by $1.4 billion per month by the end of 2018, according to economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Princeton University and Columbia University. The price of washing machines sold in the United States rose nearly 12% because of the 2018 tariffs, according to University of Chicago researchers. (The price of dryers rose by a similar amount, even though they weren’t subject to the tariffs.)" [Politifact, 8/18/19]
2019: Trump’s Tariffs "Particularly Hurt U.S. Farmers.” According to Politifact, "Meanwhile, retaliatory tariffs imposed by China have particularly hurt U.S. farmers. U.S. agricultural exports to China dropped to $9.1 billion in 2018, down from $19.5 billion the previous year, according to the American Farm Bureau, an agricultural lobbying group. That figure has continued to drop, with exports to China in the first half of 2019 sinking to $1.3 billion. Trump has responded by boosting subsidies to farmers." [Politifact, 8/18/19]
2024: Trump’s Plan To Increase Tariffs By 10% Would Lead To Increased Prices And Hurt Domestic Manufacturers. According to NPR, "Forecasters at Pantheon Macroeconomics project that a 10% tariff would increase inflation by about 0.8 percentage points next year and impose an additional drag on U.S. manufacturers. While Trump says tariffs would encourage businesses to set up shop in the U.S., economists are dubious. 'It will remain much cheaper to source goods from overseas, given relatively high U.S. labor costs, limiting the reshoring boost,' said Pantheon economist Samuel Tombs." [NPR, 11/5/24]
October 2019: Peter Navarro Cited “Ron Varra,” A Fictional Expert, In His Books On China And The Economy; Navarro Later Claimed It Was An “Inside Joke.” According to Business Insider, "In almost all of his past books on China and economic issues, President Donald Trump's top trade adviser Peter Navarro has cited a supposed Harvard scholar and investor named 'Ron Vara' often nicknamed the 'Dark Prince of Disaster' offering bombastic, colorful commentary on China.There's just one problem: according to a new report in the Chronicle Review, 'Ron Vara' himself doesn't exist, and appears to be an alter ego for Navarro himself. After all, 'Ron Vara' is simply the word 'Navarro' rearranged. [...] In response to the Chronicle, Navaro characterized Vara as Alfred Hitchcock-like character and said it was 'refreshing that somebody finally figured out an inside joke that has been hiding in plain sight for years.'" [Business Insider, 10/15/19]
Peter Navarro Promoted Baseless Election Fraud Lies. According to CBS, "In 2021, Navarro wrote a book in which he wrote that he and other Trump advisers constructed a plan called the 'Green Bay Sweep' as the 'last, best chance to snatch a stolen election from the Democrats' jaws of deceit.' Additionally, in the weeks leading up to the Jan. 6 attack, Navarro promoted a document he called the 'Navarro Report' that asserted baseless and discredited claims of election fraud." [CBS, 12/4/24]
Peter Navarro Advised Trump To Pressure Mike Pence To Reject Joe Biden’s Electoral College Votes. According to WHYY, "Navarro was one of Trump’s advisers who urged Trump to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject electoral college votes for Joe Biden on Jan. 6, 2021 in a last-minute bid to stay in office. Pence’s refusal to act unlawfully helped spur Trump’s defiant speech on the ellipse the morning of Jan. 6, and the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol by the president’s supporters." [WHYY, 7/19/24]
September 2023: Peter Navarro Was Found Guilty Of Contempt Of Congress For Non-Cooperation With January 6th Investigation. According to AP News, "Trump White House official Peter Navarro was found guilty Thursday of contempt of Congress charges for refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The verdict came after a short trial for Navarro, who served as a White House trade adviser under President Donald Trump and later promoted the Republican’s baseless claims of mass voter fraud in the 2020 election he lost." [AP News, 9/7/23]