Chinese Minister of Finance Lou Jiwei (樓繼偉) criticized Republican US presidential hopeful Donald Trump, calling him “an irrational type” due to his proposal that tariffs on imported Chinese goods be increased to up to 45 percent.
“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 in an interview with the Wall Street Journal published on Sunday.
Lou said that if the US put Trump’s proposal into effect, it “would not be entitled to its position as the world’s major power. The US needs to recognize that the US and China are mutually dependent on each other. Our economic cycles are intertwined.”
Photo: EPA
He acknowledged that rhetoric in a US presidential campaign can become heated.
China is the US’ largest trading partner.
Chinese officials have generally avoided criticizing Trump directly, although they have made indirect criticism of his proposal to ban Muslims from entering the US and indirectly rebuffed Trump’s claims that China is stealing US 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 former Fascist leaders Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler, had both been voted into power.
Trump on Sunday again asserted that China had waged “economic war” against the US.
“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 would not allow free trade or US manufacturers to compete freely.
“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,” Trump said.
Republican US presidential hopeful Ted Cruz criticized the 45 percent tariff proposal, saying during the same debate that it would be passed on to US 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,” Cruz said.
The US reported a US$366 billion trade deficit with China last year, up from US$343 billion in 2014 — the largest US trade imbalance with any nation. The deficit was up nearly 12 percent in the first two months of this year to US$57 billion.
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