Navarro Says U.S. Companies Need to Understand China Challenges

(Bloomberg) -- White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said a key part of his message to U.S. companies is that deep structural changes to China’s economy will allow them to compete more fairly.

Navarro, a China hawk who favors a harsher approach with Beijing on trade, detailed the list of problems the U.S. faces with its largest trading partner in a report published last week. The dozens of challenges cited by Navarro ranged from China’s alleged theft of intellectual property to the evasion of U.S. export control laws and the production of counterfeit goods.

The study is part of the Trump administration’s justification for imposing tariffs on China -- with the first round of duties on $34 billion of Chinese products set to take effect July 6. President Donald Trump also announced this week he favors strengthening a national security review process, which could curb Chinese investment in sensitive technologies.

“One of the things my office does at the White House, we have what’s called a swat team where companies come to us with specific problems,” Navarro said during a presentation at the Hudson Institute on Thursday in Washington. “This report could be useful. Because it gives everybody a common understanding of the structural challenges that we need to face.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Jenny Leonard in Washington at jleonard67@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Murray at brmurray@bloomberg.net, Sarah McGregor, Randall Woods

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