The departure Friday of Steve Bannon, the White House's top economic nationalist, will likely tip the trade policy scales in favor of the Trump administration's "globalist" faction, which could soften the stance toward two of Trump's favorite targets: China and the North American Free Trade Agreement.

But after news that Trump had fired Bannon from his post as chief strategist, trade experts said it may take some time for National Economic Council Chairman Gary Cohn, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to start winning more debates on trade policy.

Bannon and White House Trade and Manufacturing Office director Peter Navarro were often allied in taking hard-line anti-China stances over currency manipulation, steel tariffs and other trade issues, often opposed to Cohn, Mnuchin and Perdue, according to lobbyists who have been involved in the debates.