Resurfaced video shows Nancy Pelosi slamming China's trade policy as Internet debates Trump's new tariffs

WASHINGTON, DC: An unearthed 1996 video shows then-Representative Nancy Pelosi passionately demanding the US push back on China's lopsided tariffs - sounding eerily like Donald Trump decades before his presidency made it a headline issue.

In a video captured on the House floor back in June 1996, the congresswoman passionately urged her fellow lawmakers to challenge the “status quo” trade practices that had fueled the growing US trade deficit with China, reported by Fox News.

Pelosi delivered a sharp critique of a bipartisan effort to grant China Most Favored Nation (MFN) trade status. She highlighted the lopsided nature of the trade relationship, stressing that the US kept tariffs on Chinese imports relatively low, while China continued to levy steep tariffs on American goods.

Pelosi once railed against free trade with China, called it a 'cruel hoax' on American Workers

Nancy Pelosi firmly opposed the push for free trade with China, cautioning that the growing trade deficit was taking a serious toll on both American workers and the broader US economy.

“In terms of tariffs, it’s think it’s interesting to note that the average US MFN tariff on Chinese goods coming into the United States is 2 percent whereas the average MFN tariff on US goods going into China is 35 percent. Is that reciprocal?” she demanded, pointing to a then $34 billion trade deficit.

Pelosi declared the US-China trade deal a “job loser,” warning that at least 10 million Chinese jobs were being supported by access to the American consumer market, while just 170,000 US jobs were tied to trade with China.

“This is the biggest and cruelest hoax of all,” she said, accusing Congress of rubber-stamping an arrangement that gutted American industry and handed China the upper hand.

The decades-old video has reemerged amid Trump’s rollout of reciprocal tariffs on China and several other countries this week. While many Democratic lawmakers including Pelosi have pushed back against the move, the timing has sparked renewed interest in her past remarks.

Former House speaker said US leverage over China is stronger than critics think

The former House Speaker had then pushed back against concerns that isolating China economically would backfire, arguing instead that the US holds far more leverage in the trade relationship than often acknowledged.

Speaking on the matter, Pelosi emphasized that China’s economy is deeply dependent on American consumption.

“And this brings us to the point that others have said, ‘Well we can’t isolate China.’ Do you think for one minute that with 10 million jobs at least and $35 billion and over $40 billion this year in a trade surplus all those billions of dollars in surplus that the Chinese are going to walk away?” she said.

“Where are they going to take 35 to 40 percent of their exports? Who’s going to buy them? This is what sustains the regime — the funding and the jobs. They can’t have those people out of work. They have to be worth exporting to the United States.”

Pelosi, who has a long history of criticizing the Chinese government over human rights violations, made headlines in 1991 when she joined fellow lawmakers in unfurling a pro-democracy banner in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

And in 1996, she linked her opposition to China’s Most Favored Nation trade status to the moral implications of enriching an authoritarian regime.

But today, Pelosi is voicing concern over a different kind of trade war - one led by President Donald Trump. Trump’s proposal to implement sweeping reciprocal tariffs on foreign goods has sparked debate across the globe, with Pelosi positioning herself firmly in opposition.

"For decades, the United States slashed trade barriers on other countries, while those nations placed massive tariffs on our products and created outrageous non-monetary barriers to decimate our industries," Trump said.

The US would impose a 20% tariff on European Union countries far less than the 39% tariffs they place on American goods. He added that Japan would face a 24% tariff in response to its 46% tariff on US products, while China would be hit with a 34% tariff, countering the 67% it levies on American exports.

“Donald Trump’s reckless tariffs will cause chaos in our economy, raise prices for consumers, and hurt hardworking American families,” she wrote on X. “This is not a strategy — it’s the largest tax hike on the American people in history.”

Nearly three decades later, many of the concerns Pelosi raised have proven to be well-founded. A 2018 report by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) revealed that from 2001 to 2017, the growing US trade deficit with China resulted in the loss of 3.4 million American jobs.

Every congressional district in all 50 states felt the impact, with the manufacturing sector bearing the brunt — losing roughly 2.5 million jobs, or 74 percent of the total. Notably, 1.3 million of those jobs were lost after 2008.

Internet reacts to Nancy Pelosi’s past call for Congress to take on China’s trade practices

A resurfaced clip of Nancy Pelosi urging Congress to address China’s trade practices has sparked a wave of mixed reactions across social media, reigniting debates about economic policy, political motives, and US-China relations.

Skeptics were quick to question her stance, with one user sarcastically asking, “You sure about that?” while another declared, “Anything you’re against I’m for.”

“Nancy Pelosi is the most corrupt politician in US history!” one commenter claimed.

“I would be more scared if you agreed with what he’s doing. The fact y’all are so against it just tells me he’s on the right track lol,” a user wrote, implying support for more aggressive trade policies.

“Other countries have been imposing larger tariffs on America for too long. It’s time to level the playing field,” one wrote.

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