The chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers suggested Monday that the U.S. and other members of the World Trade Organization may have to kick China out of the world trade body if it doesn't start playing by the rules.

Kevin Hassett said China for too long has flouted intellectual property rights rules, and said it could find itself outside the WTO if it doesn't start respecting those rules.

"China really needs to make up its mind," Hassett said on Fox Business News. "Do they want to be in the community of nations, do they want to be part of the WTO and just behave like everybody else, or don't they?"

"And if they don't, then we, the community of nations, are going to have to think about what are we going to do about that?" he asked. "Are we going to let them stay in the WTO?"



.@WhiteHouseCEA's Kevin Hassett on China: "They need to start acting like the other developed nations." pic.twitter.com/V5DEyP1WSq — FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) August 13, 2018



Hassett spoke as the trade war between the U.S. and China continues to heat up. Last week, both countries imposed tariffs on $16 billion of their respective imports.

The Trump administration has threatened tariffs on another $200 billion worth of Chinese goods if China fails to respect IPR rules and stops forced technology transfer.

"Economically, China needs to enter the community of nations," he said. "They need to start acting like the other developed nations."

"If I, you know, invented this new gizmo, then you'd be shocked if the German government stole it from me and then, you know, seeded a German startup company with my stolen idea," Hassett added. "The Chinese government's doing that kind of thing all the time, and yet they're in the WTO."