The U.S. is seeking more “reciprocal” trade with countries, such as China and Germany, in a bid to boost growth, reduce the trade deficit and keep American production capacity out of foreign hands, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said.
“If we are able to reduce our trade deficit through tough, smart negotiations, we should be able to increase our growth rate,” Navarro said at an economists’ conference in Washington on Monday. Without action to close the gap, “Foreigners will eventually own so much of America that there will be nothing left to trade,” he warned.
Navarro said the Trump administration wants to rebuild the American industrial base, reversing the decline in the nation’s manufacturing workforce. He noted that about 20 percent of Germany’s labor force is employed in manufacturing, compared with only about 8 percent in the U.S.
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