Peter Kent Navarro (born July 15, 1949) is an American economist and author. He serves in the Trump administration as the Assistant to the President, Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, and the national Defense Production Act policy coordinator. He previously served as a Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the White House National Trade Council, a newly created entity in the executive branch of the U.S. government, until it was folded into the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, a new role established by executive order in April 2017. He is also a professor emeritus of economics and public policy at the Paul Merage School of Business, University of California, Irvine, and the author of Death by China, among other publications.Navarro's views on trade are significantly outside the mainstream of economic thought, and are widely considered fringe and misguided by other economists. A strong proponent of reducing U.S. trade deficits, Navarro is well known as a critic of Germany and China and has accused both nations of currency manipulation. He has called for increasing the size of the American manufacturing sector, setting high tariffs, and "repatriating global supply chains". He is also a strong opponent of the North American Free Trade Agreement and Trans-Pacific Partnership.