The Mysterious Transformation of Peter Navarro

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The Mysterious Transformation of Peter Navarro

April 7, 2025

The bitter reaction by economists and Wall Street to the Trump administration’s new tariff regime has put a spotlight on one of Donald Trump’s top economic advisers, Peter Navarro.

Once a supporter of the mainstream view that foreign exchange is beneficial and trade deficits are unimportant, Navarro shifted radically about 15 years ago, borne by fear of the economic rise of China. The change put him far outside the consensus view of the economics profession, but it earned him Trump’s ear and, later, a plumb position in his administrations.

In the Fall 2018 issue of Regulation, Pierre Lemieux describes Navarro’s transformation and discusses his reasoning for the change. Lemieux explains that Navarro’s reasoning is not persuasive, but it accurately characterizes the Trump administration’s thinking then and today. You can read the article here.

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