Markets need patience on trade: Peter Navarro
Investors became more skeptical on Tuesday over whether the U.S.-China trade agreement, reached at the G20, will produce actual results.
U.S. stocks lost over 3 percent each with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling over 799 points on Tuesday. Amid the late day selling, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro urged investors to be optimistic and patient.
“I think what the markets have to do is give this process the requisite time,” he told FOX Business’ Charles Payne. “It’s silly for the markets to react to some kind of rumors in the air.”
The two world's largest economies negotiated a 90-day trade truce during a meeting between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which took place on the sidelines of the G-20 summit. If the U.S. doesn't reach an agreement with China within that time period, tariffs are expected to rise to 25%.
“The president of China and the United States have a very warm and constructive exchange we’ve set off with a clear path over the next 90 days to deal substantively with structural issues and market access issues and I think people should be very optimistic about the possibilities here,” Navarro said.
He also crowed that the Treasury Department has collected an estimated $7 billion from the imposed tariffs.
“The functions of these tariffs when the President says he is a tariff man, he also understands that one of the most important functions of these tariffs is to make sure people invest within our borders,” he said.
Critics say tariffs hurt consumers because companies tend to raise prices to offset the hit to their bottom line. Prices may rise for products ranging from tech gadgets, lumber and cars.