White House adviser Larry Kudlow has denounced his fellow adviser Peter Navarro for accusing Wall Street of trying to meddle in China trade policy.
“His remarks are way off-base,” Kudlow said in an interview on CNBC on Tuesday. “I actually think he did the president a great disservice. … I think Peter very badly misspoke. He was freelancing, and he’s not representing the president or the administration.”
In a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a D.C.-based think tank, last week Navarro said the financial sector was putting heavy pressure on the White House to scale back the conflict with China. He warned the financial sector to back off.
“If and when there is a deal, it will be on President Donald J. Trump’s terms — not Wall Street terms. … If Wall Street is involved and continues to insinuate itself into these negotiations, there will be a stench around any deal that’s consummated because it will have the imprimatur of Goldman Sachs and Wall Street,” Navarro warned.
Kudlow said administration is fully engaged in talks with China on trade issues “at all levels” and called the tenor “very, very, very positive.” President Trump is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G-20 in Argentina in a week.
Navarro and Kudlow represent different poles of administration thinking on trade. Navarro, a former academic economist at the University of California, Irving, is a top China hawk and author of the book Death by China. Kudlow, a former business economist and news commentator, has long been a strong backer of free trade policies, but has moderated his position since joining the administration.
Administration sources have leaked to news agencies last week that tariffs covering as much as $257 billion worth of Chinese goods could be announced next month if the talks in Argentina do not go well. The U.S. has already hit $250 billion worth of Chinese goods with tariffs ranging from 10 to 25 percent. The tariffs are set to hit 25 percent across the board next year.
