China Shares Clip of Reagan Denouncing Tariffs

The Chinese Embassy in the U.S. on Monday shared a clip of former President Ronald Reagan denouncing tariffs as having "prevented economic recovery," saying his "speech finds new relevance in 2025."

The embassy posted to social media a clip of a radio address that Reagan gave during his presidency in 1987 in which he criticized the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, saying it worsened the Great Depression near its onset and "prevented economic recovery."

Reagan went on to scold politicians who support tariffs as being willing to "risk America's prosperity for the sake of a short-term appeal to some special interest group" and "who forget that more than 5 million American jobs are directly tied to the foreign export business and additional millions are tied to imports."

Reagan added that tariffs work "only for a short time" before they stifle competition and innovation.

"And then, while all this is going on, something even worse occurs," Reagan said. "High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars."

He added: "The result is more and more tariffs, higher and higher trade barriers, and less and less competition. So, soon, because of the prices made artificially high by tariffs that subsidize inefficiency and poor management, people stop buying. Then the worst happens: Markets shrink and collapse, businesses and industries shut down, and millions of people lose their jobs."

Trump last week announced a 34% tariff on Chinese imports, which is in addition to the 20% tariff he imposed on China earlier.

China responded with a 34% tariff on some goods from the U.S., which prompted Trump to threaten an additional 50% tariff, for a total tariff of 104%, and the cancellation of all meetings with Beijing.

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