President-elect Donald Trump's selection of California economist and author Peter Navarro as his trade czar, has a touch of irony — Navarro's early political career was marked by left-wing opposition to real estate development, the Washington Examiner reports.
Navarro, who will head a newly created White House National Trade Council to focus on strengthening the nation's trade policies and manufacturing sector, ran losing campaigns for both mayor of San Diego and Congress in the 1990s with the backing of the Democratic Party.
GOP operatives, who helped defeat him in those races, said Navarro was a liberal environmentalist who made opposition to residential and commercial development the main focus of his political activism.
As Trump was becoming famous in the 1980s as a major Manhattan developer, Navarro was the chairman of a group whose goal was the polar opposite to prevent San Diego from turning into another version of dense, fast-growing Los Angeles.
Trump said he chose Navarro, because he "read one of Peter's books on America's trade problems years ago and was impressed by the clarity of his arguments and thoroughness of his research.
"He has presciently documented the harms inflicted by globalism on American workers, and laid out a path forward to restore our middle class."
Navarro was a key adviser to Trump during the presidential campaign, particularly concerning his plan to impose tariffs on foreign imports from countries that he says have an unfair advantage over domestic manufacturers.
Navarro's longtime criticism of U.S. trade policy is especially harsh concerning China, and China Daily described his appointment as a concern, explaining that his hawkish views on Beijing will only harm the economies of both countries.
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