Top economic adviser quits Trump amid dispute over trade
Gary Cohn is resigning as U.S. President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser, leaving his post as the administration prepares to impose steep tariffs on steel and aluminum that Cohn has opposed.
“It has been an honour to serve my country and enact pro-growth economic policies to benefit the American people, in particular the passage of historic tax reform,” Cohn said in a statement. “I am grateful to the president for giving me this opportunity and wish him and the administration great success in the future.”
Trump’s announcement on Thursday that he would press forward with a 25-per-cent tariff on steel imports and 10 per cent on aluminum left markets reeling and was a public rebuke of Cohn, the director of the National Economic Council, who had furiously lobbied against the penalties.
One person with knowledge of the chaotic West Wing decisionmaking process said Cohn and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who had recommended the tariffs to the president, privately argued over the issue just hours before it was announced.
The tariffs appeared to mark the tipping point for Cohn, 57, a registered Democrat who made clear that he saw his job in the administration to be an advocate for business-friendly economic principles. He helped Trump steer a large package of tax cuts into law last year but proved unpersuasive on trade, where Cohn was a stark counterpoint to nationalists and economic populists in the administration led by former chief strategist Stephen Bannon.
His departure may cause further turmoil in financial markets, where investors saw him as a steady hand in an unpredictable administration, and leaves uncertainty about Trump’s economic agenda.
Trump expressed gratitude to Cohn in a written statement: “He is a rare talent, and I thank him for his dedicated service to the American people.”