Donald Trump named former White House official Peter Navarro as his “Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing,” the president-elect announced on Truth Social Wednesday.
Navarro, who served as an assistant to the president and director of the office of trade and manufacturing policy in the first Trump administration, will play a decisive role in shaping the U.S.’s upcoming trade agenda.
“The Senior Counselor position leverages Peter’s broad range of White House experience, while harnessing his extensive Policy analytic and Media skills,” Trump wrote in his announcement. “His mission will be to help successfully advance and communicate the Trump Manufacturing, Tariff, and Trade Agendas.”
It is unclear if Navarro’s post will be a cabinet-level position, or how it will interact with the office of the U.S. Trade Representative or Department of Commerce, both of which Trump has also said will lead his trade and tariff policy.
Trump has named international trade lawyer Jamieson Greer as his nominee for USTR, and Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick to lead the Commerce Department.
Navarro was part of trade talks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement and U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement during Trump’s first term. The U.S.-Korea trade deal, renegotiated in March 2018, exempted South Korea from tariffs imposed earlier that month in exchange for the country limiting imports of steel into the U.S.
“This will be as effective as the tariff and preserve the integrity of the steel industry,” Navarro said in a National Public Radio interview at the time. “So let's not talk about exemptions, letting anybody out. Everybody understands as they negotiate with the United States that if they're let out of the tariffs, they will have a quota or some other similar restriction.”
Trump continues to make heightened tariffs and an aggressive trade policy central tenets of his upcoming agenda. On Monday, the president-elect threatened 100% tariffs on BRICS countries, including Russia and China, if the informal contingent shifts away from the U.S. dollar.
The threat followed recent promises of a 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico, the U.S.’s largest trade partners, and an additional 10% tariff hike on imports from China.
Navarro will take on the role after a recent stint in prison. In March, the Trump loyalist began serving a four-month prison sentence for a contempt of Congress conviction. He was released in July.
The conviction stemmed from Navarro’s failure to comply with a subpoena from the United States House Select Committee regarding its investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Navarro was the first Trump official to serve a prison sentence for a crime related to the attack.
