Peter Navarro

Director of the White House National Trade Council (January 20, 2017 – April 29, 2017); Director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy (April 29, 2017 – January 20, 2021); Senior Counselor to the President for Trade and Manufacturing (since January 20, 2025).

Roles
  • Director of the White House National Trade Council, –
  • Director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, –
  • Senior Counselor to the President for Trade and Manufacturing, – present
First joined
, as Director of the White House National Trade Council
Terms
First and second terms

In office

2 published records link Peter Navarro, gravest first.

  1. Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

    2025 Tariff Shock: Sweeping Import Taxes Trigger Global Trade Crisis

    The tariff regime was described by the administration as reciprocal response to trade imbalances, but the methodology for calculating tariff rates — dividing trade deficits by import values — was not a recognized economic method and did not reflect actual foreign tariff levels. Economists across the political spectrum warned of consumer price increases, supply chain disruptions, and reduced trade volumes. The tariffs on Chinese goods — reaching 145% cumulatively — effectively ended routine trade in many product categories. Markets fell sharply in the two trading days following the announcement. A 90-day pause was announced for most countries (excluding China) after Treasury Secretary Bessent and other officials lobbied Trump.

  2. Grade 1 of 5: Significant Democratic Concern

    Steel and Aluminum Tariffs: Trade War With Allies, WTO Violations, Economic Disruption

    The Section 232 tariffs were challenged immediately as legally dubious — U.S. national security law did not contemplate allies as threats, and Canada, Germany, South Korea, and Japan supply steel and aluminum to U.S. defense contractors. The EU, Canada, and Mexico all retaliated with targeted tariffs on politically sensitive U.S. products (Bourbon, Harley-Davidson motorcycles, orange juice, soybeans). The broader China trade war — separate from the steel tariffs — involved escalating rounds of tariffs reaching 25% on $250 billion in Chinese goods; China retaliated against agricultural products; the U.S. government paid $28 billion in direct payments to American farmers to compensate for lost Chinese export markets.

Before office

1 record from before Peter Navarro first joined. See them on Before Office.

  1. Convicted Between terms

    Peter Navarro Convicted of Contempt of Congress for Defying January 6 Committee Subpoena (2023)

    Navarro asserted executive privilege before seeing the subpoena and refused to engage with the Select Committee. The district court found that President Trump had not invoked executive privilege for the subpoena. After the 2025 change of administration the Justice Department moved to strike its own appellate brief and was deemed to have withdrawn from the appeal; the D.C. Circuit affirmed anyway. The Washington Examiner reported on August 28, 2026 that the full D.C. Circuit had denied rehearing en banc; his lawyer said the case "was always headed to the Supreme Court." He does not appear on the Justice Department's list of Trump clemency grants (updated September 9, 2026).