Peter Navarro is speaking at an event in Manhattan hosted by The Economist and Finastra -- "In the belly of if not the globalist beast, then certainly the globalist beauty," as Navarro puts it. "I stand here as the ultimate apostate." 
"One of the things I love about President Trump is his fine attention to detail," Navarro says, referring to something having to do with shipbuilding.
"You can do great things using executive power for the American people," he says, bashing Congress and Speaker Pelosi especially for not calling a vote on the USMCA, which is the "best most brilliant trade deal ever negotiated by am American president."
(The USMCA strongly resembles the TPP, which Navarro regards as the worst trade deal ever.)
Navarro also praises the recently-signed Japan deal, which he says achieves all the benefits of TPP without giving away the US' auto sector. (The Japan deal is very narrow in scope and got less agricultural access than the TPP would've, 2 years earlier)
Calls the 232 and 301 tariffs "strategic" and "tactical." (Those tariffs cover so many goods and so many countries that thousands of companies have applied for and received exemptions because newly tariffed imports are critical to US exports and jobs.)
Navarro sits down, to tepid applause from this globalist audience. "Where's my tea?" he asks @SoumayaKeynes.
@SoumayaKeynes Navarro keeps goading the Economist for not railing against bad Chinese behavior.
"How much of a loaf do you think we should accept?” he asks @SoumayaKeynes.
"You’re the one with the power," she says.
“The president’s the one with the power. I’m just a witness to history here.”
"How much of a loaf do you think we should accept?” he asks @SoumayaKeynes.
"You’re the one with the power," she says.
“The president’s the one with the power. I’m just a witness to history here.”
@SoumayaKeynes Asked about what his answer is to the closure of GM's Lordstown plant, Navarro does a lot of talking on Mary Barra's behalf. "They are fully fully committed to making Lordstown as a town a really viable hub for manufacturing in the Midwest," he said.
(GM is reportedly working on a partnership with LG Chem for a battery cell plant there, but nothing's nailed down. detroitnews.com/story/business… )
Now there's a panel of trade officials and former officials, including Stephen Vaughn, who served as USTR's general counsel until April. "Trade continues to flourish," he says, defending the tariff strategy.
IMF guy on the panel: "Trade has come to a standstill." (The IMF's latest economic outlook found that trade-related uncertainty is dragging global growth down to the lowest level in a decade imf.org/en/Publication… )
.@J_A_Hillman looked like she was about to explode in this panel and indeed that impression seems accurate
(Slight amendment on this: He was referring to Trump apparently paying attention to defense budget line items and making sure military equipment is made in places like Oshkosh. "“That place is going to boom for the next 20 years because of the joint light tactical vehicle.”)
