The White House trade representative who signed a $765 million federal loan agreement with Eastman Kodak last month now says "you can't fix stupid" when asked about Kodak management.
There are now federal and internal corporate investigations underway into whether insider trading took place before the deal was formally announced. Peter Navarro spoke Monday on CNBC's "Squawk Box." Navarro said Kodak executives’ handling of the deal was “probably the dumbest decision made by executives in corporate history.” Navarro said the federal government is now looking forward and has some 30 other deals on the drawing board to help move pharmaceutical production back into the United States.
The federal loan is now on hold. It would have let Kodak gear up to use its chemical technology to make the precursor chemicals for generic pharmaceuticals.
Kodak declined to comment.