Trump, China and The Players at the G20

Many of us breathed a sign of relief when we saw the news from the China Morning Post that said Peter Navarro, President Trump’s China Hawk would be excluded from the trip to Buenos Aires and the G20 December 1st.

Navarro has been a key figure in the trade war with China, and was famously taken out of the public eye by my friend Larry Kudlow, when Mr Navarro’s comments were viewed as doing more harm than good. Mr Kudlow believes the President wants very much to strike a deal with China and says that there are detailed communications between the US and Chinese delegations.

But one very important person that is still going to make the trip to the G20 is Robert Lighthizer, our top trade official. He led the US trade talks with Canada and Mexico and now it appears he has been tapped by President Trump to pick up where the Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin left off in May, when Secretary Mnuchin and Liu He failed to strike an accord.

The significance of Trump replacing the vitriolic Navarro with his more experienced and patient US Trade Representative may have been missed by some, but it could indeed be the key to moving past this trade war and into trade negotiations.