WASHINGTON -- In another sign that he intends to shake up relations with China, President-elect Donald Trump named economist Peter Navarro to lead a newly created White House council on trade.
The University of California-Irvine professor, who advised Trump during the campaign, has sharply criticized China's economic and military policies in books and videos. In addition to leading the new White House National Trade Council, Navarro will be director of trade and industrial policy.
In a statement, the Trump transition team said the creation of the council "demonstrates the president-elect's determination to make American manufacturing great again."
Trump says China's unfair trade practices are responsible for wiping out American factory jobs. U.S. manufacturers have cut 5 million jobs since 2000. Trump has threatened to impose taxes on Chinese imports and to label China a "currency manipulator" for allegedly pushing its currency lower to give Chinese exporters a price advantage.
Navarro, author of "Death By China," also endorses a hard line toward China. Navarro has dismissed warnings that imposing sanctions on China could trigger a destructive trade war if China retaliates by targeting U.S. imports. He and Wilbur Ross -- an investment banker tapped to be Trump's Commerce secretary -- have argued that China and other U.S. trade partners have more to lose in a trade conflict because they depend so much on the U.S. market.
Trump has already rattled U.S.-China relations. Earlier this month, he broke protocol by taking a call from the president of Taiwan. China views Taiwan as a renegade province and considers any acknowledgement that it has its own head of state as a grave insult. Trump also said he did not feel bound by the longstanding "one-China" policy. Under that policy the United States recognizes Beijing as the sole government of China and acknowledges its claim to Taiwan but regards the status of the self-governing island as unsettled.
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Associated Press writer Matthew Pennington contributed to this report.
