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 In an interview with the Wall Street Journal published on Sunday,
Lou said, "Trump is an irrational type. If he were to do this, that
would be in violation of the rules set by the World Trade
Organization."
Lou said that if the United States put Trump's proposal into effect,
it "would not be entitled to its position as the world’s major
power. The U.S. needs to recognize that the U.S. and China are
mutually dependent on each other. Our economic cycles are
intertwined."
He acknowledged that rhetoric in a U.S. presidential campaign can
become heated.
China is the United States' largest trading partner.
Chinese officials have generally avoided criticizing Trump directly,
though they have made indirect criticism of his proposal to ban
Muslims from entering the United States and indirectly rebuffed
Trump's claims that China is stealing U.S. jobs.
China's tightly-controlled state media has largely stuck to
reporting the facts about Trump, with some notable exceptions.
Last month, influential tabloid the Global Times accused Trump of
being a racist, warning that other extremists, such as Benito
Mussolini and Adolf Hitler, had both been voted into power.
Trump on Sunday again asserted that China had waged "economic war"
against the United States.
"They've taken our jobs, they've taken our money," the billionaire
businessman said at a campaign rally in New York. "We can't continue
to be ripped off like we're being ripped off." At a Republican
presidential debate last month, Trump said China will not allow free
trade or U.S. manufacturers to compete freely.
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"The 45 percent (tariff) is a threat that if they don't behave, if
they don't follow the rules and regulations so that we can have it
equal on both sides, we will tax you," he said.
Republican rival Ted Cruz criticized the 45 percent tariff proposal,
saying during the same debate that it would be passed on to U.S.
consumers.
"How does it help you to have a president come and say ... I'm going
to put a 45 percent tax on diapers when you buy diapers, on
automobiles when you buy automobiles, on clothing when you buy
clothing. That hurts you," the U.S. senator from Texas said.
The United States reported a $366-billion trade deficit with China
in 2015, up from $343 billion in 2014 - the largest U.S. trade
imbalance with any nation. The deficit is up nearly 12 percent in
the first two months of 2016 to $57 billion.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and
Clarence Fernandez)
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reserved.]
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