White House trade adviser dodges over US leaving World Trade Organization

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro on Sunday dodged a question about whether the United States will ultimately leave the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Navarro told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” it was “a provocative question” to ask if the Trump administration will pull the U.S. out of the intergovernmental group.

{mosads}Navarro said that the WTO is a big part of the problem when it comes to trade. 

“A lot of the problem has been the World Trade Organization, which is over 160 countries, and a lot of them simply don’t like us and so we don’t get good results there,” Navarro said.

The exchange came after President Trump last week announced a plan to impose a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum.

Navarro said on Sunday that while the U.S. is a free trader, it is also a fair trader, echoing a line from the president.

“But we are fair and reciprocal traders and the World Trade Organization I think needs to change with the times,” Navarro said.