Trump adviser rebuts President on ‘strong’ dollar | CNN Business
President Donald Trump’s top trade policy adviser rebutted Monday the president’s views on whether the U.S. would be better off with a weaker dollar.
July 29, 2019 – CNN, Christiane Amanpour
President Donald Trump’s top trade policy adviser rebutted Monday the president’s views about whether the U.S. would be better off with a weaker dollar.
“We have a very strong country – that’s why our country has a strong currency,” Trump said in Oval Office remarks remarks on Friday.
But in an interview with Christiane Amanpour on Monday, Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro said “the terminology of a strong versus weak dollar is counterproductive.”
“‘Weak’ is a pejorative term in most people’s minds,” Navarro added. “The issue is whether the dollar is overvalued. And I think it’s fair to say that most economists believe that to be true.”
Trump, however, was focused on the strong vs. weak characterization on Friday. “There’s a reason that it sounds so good. And having a strong dollar is having a strong dollar,” he said.
Navarro was reported to have clashed with the President during an Oval Office meeting last week over whether weakening the U.S. dollar would help the American economy.
Navarro would not comment on that meeting.
But he told Amanpour that “an overvalued dollar will lead to fewer exports, more imports, higher trade deficit, and slower growth.”
