Dark Clouds Hang Over US-Germany Trade Prospects

Trump administration trade adviser Peter Navarro said on Monday the $US65 billion ($F135b) US trade deficit with Germany was "one of the most difficult" trade issues, and bilateral discussions were needed to reduce it outside of European Union restrictions.

Navarro, the director of the new White House National Trade Council, also in an address to economists in Washington depicted chronic trade deficits as a threat to national security and said the Trump administration would seek to "reclaim" parts supply chains that had moved overseas.

Navarro said Germany has too long used the argument that the EU dictates its trade policy and that it does not control the value of the euro.

"I think that it would be useful to have candid discussions with Germany about ways that we could possibly get that deficit reduced outside the boundaries and restrictions that they claim that they are under," Navarro told a National Association for Business Economics conference.

"But it's a serious issue. Germany is one of the most difficult trade deficits that we're going to have to deal with but we're thinking long and hard about that."

The dark cloud of tariffs or other border taxes against Germany are heavy in the air with an administration that is economically ignorant, especially when it comes to trade.

SEE:

Richard Epstein: Trump's Approach to Bilateral Trade Negotiations Could Easily Lead to a Downward Global Spiral

How the Hell Did Peter Navarro Ever Get a Ph. D. in Economics From Harvard?

What an Embarrassing Wall Street Journal Op-Ed by Trump's Trade Adviser

What Defenders of Tariffs Do Not Understand

Ronald Reagan Versus Donald Trump on the Trade Deficit

It is just remarkable that Navarro holds such an economically ignorant position. A position whose policies if enacted would do significant damage to the United States and global economy.

   -RW

(Source:Reuters)