WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser, Gary Cohn,said on Tuesday he was resigning, a decision that came after he lost afight within the White House over plans to impose hefty steel and aluminiumtariffs.
White House officials said the dispute over tariffs contributed to Cohn’sdecision to resign but was not the only reason. One official said there hadbeen several issues that led to the parting, but noted: “His biggestmission was on the tax cut bill, which he got passed.”
The White House said the timing of Cohn’s departure from his role asdirector of the National Economic Council had not been finalized but wasstill a few weeks away. It was the latest in a series of high-profiledepartures from the White House.
Following the news of Cohn’s resignation, the US dollar weakened, while anexchange-traded fund tracking the broad market S&P 500 dipped 1 percent.Prices for US government debt barely budged.
Trump’s announcement last week of his plans to impose the tariffs sent USstock prices tumbling and came after an intense debate within the WhiteHouse between Cohn and other advocates of free trade, on one side, andprotectionist advisers such as Peter Navarro on the other, according toWhite House officials.
Cohn, who served in the White House for a little more than a year, struckan early rapport with Trump and proved influential in the administration’sdecisions last April not to label China a currency manipulator and torenegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), instead ofterminating it.
He also emerged as one of the main drivers of the tax overhaul packagepassed by Congress and signed into law by Trump late last year. Theoverhaul was Trump’s first major legislative victory.
“It has been an honor to serve my country and enact pro-growth economicpolicies to benefit the American people, in particular the passage ofhistoric tax reform. I am grateful to the President for giving me thisopportunity and wish him and the Administration great success in thefuture,” Cohn said in a statement issued by the White House.
Cohn’s relationship with Trump began to sour last summer, after Cohndisagreed with the president’s tepid response to clashes between neo-Nazisand anti-racism protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, sources close toCohn said.
Cohn, a Democrat, had aligned himself with Trump’s son-in-law, JaredKushner, and the president’s daughter Ivanka Trump, who are both seniorWhite House advisers and like Cohn, are seen as centrists.
Cohn, a former president and chief operating officer of investment bankGoldman Sachs, was seen as a bulwark within the White House againstprotectionist policies. Business lobbyists frequently cited Cohn as theirstrongest ally in the White House.
“Gary Cohn deserves credit for serving his country in a first class way.I’m sure I join many others who are disappointed to see him leave,” LloydBlankfein, the chairman and chief executive of Goldman Sachs and Cohn’sformer boss, said on Twitter.
In a statement, Trump gave Cohn credit for his role in pushing the taxpackage through Congress and “unleashing the American economy once again.”
“He is a rare talent, and I thank him for his dedicated service to theAmerican people,” he said. – Agencies