Schumer Demands Tariff Repeal While His Own 2007 Speech Demanded Action; Trump: “They Never Had the Guts”

A devastating April 2025 compilation juxtaposed Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer demanding Congress “repeal these tariffs” with his own prior statements demanding trade action against China — and Pelosi’s 1996 House floor speech making the identical argument Trump was now implementing. Schumer said the Senate had “the power and authority to stop this madness,” while simultaneously acknowledging that “the Chinese don’t play fair” and “don’t let our goods into their country.” Trump responded: “Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi — they’ve wanted to do this for years, but they never had a president that had the guts to do it.”

Schumer 2025: “Repeal These Tariffs”

Schumer delivered his appeal for tariff repeal on the Senate floor.

“Congress must take action before Donald Trump causes even more damage to the economy,” Schumer said. “Every single Republican rejected, in my measure, to stop any tariffs since January 20th if prices for groceries and medicines and other essential goods went up. Every one of them voted no, and the voters are realizing that.”

He repeated: “Let me repeat — Republicans had the chance to stop this pain for American families, and every single one voted no.”

He announced new legislation: “That’s why today I’m proud to be joining Senators Wyden, Kaine, Warnock, and others to introduce another resolution that would halt all of Trump’s tariffs.”

He stated the principle: “The Senate has the power and the authority to stop this madness. We have a duty to act in a bipartisan way to repeal these tariffs.”

Schumer’s Own Chart: “The Chinese Don’t Play Fair”

In the same speech — the very same speech in which he demanded tariff repeal — Schumer made the case for tariffs.

“It says to the Chinese that their unfair trade policies have got to end,” Schumer said.

He displayed a chart: “The Chinese have enjoyed a huge trade surplus with the United States, as this chart shows.”

He detailed the asymmetry: “Much of that trade surplus is because the Chinese don’t play fair. They don’t let our goods into their country, so that their exports get a 27% advantage. Here in the United States, our imports get a 27% disadvantage when sold in China.”

He described the failure of diplomacy: “We have talked and talked and talked to the Chinese till we’re blue in the face. The time for action is now.”

The internal contradiction was astonishing. In the same speech, Schumer was simultaneously arguing that (1) Trump’s tariffs should be repealed because they were damaging the economy, and (2) China’s trade practices were unfair, the trade surplus was unsustainable, and “the time for action is now.” He was demanding the repeal of the very action he acknowledged was necessary.

The Double Standard Question

A reporter at a separate event posed the question that framed the entire compilation.

“Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, they’ve been talking about tariffs for decades,” the reporter said. “How come when these Democrat elites want tariffs, everything’s hunky-dory, but when President Trump wants tariffs, all hell breaks loose? Do you see this double standard?”

Trump’s response: “I love this guy. Whoever the hell that is. That’s really nice. I appreciate that question.”

He answered: “No, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi — everybody knew you had to do it. But they never had the guts to do it. It does take guts. It even takes guts for our country to go through it.”

Trump described the trajectory: “That’s why they say, ‘Be cool.’ It’s going to work out. And it’s working out. Working out maybe faster than I thought.”

He coined the phrase: “It’s really a transition to greatness. It’s going to be greatness.”

He cited the investment evidence: “We have more car manufacturers coming into our country now — we’ve never seen anything like it. Three cancellations in Mexico building a plant. They’re all coming into the United States.”

The larger investments: “Apple is going to spend $500 billion. They wouldn’t be doing that if I didn’t do this. They’d just keep building them in China.”

Trump returned to the hypocrisy: “And interestingly, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi — Crazy Nancy — they’ve wanted to do this for years. But they never had a president that had the guts to do it. Because it does take guts, believe me.”

Pelosi 1996: The Evidence

The compilation included Pelosi’s 1996 House floor speech that made the identical argument Trump was implementing.

“The average US MFN tariff on Chinese goods coming into the United States is 2%,” Pelosi had said in 1996. “Whereas the average Chinese MFN tariff on US goods going into China is 35%. Is that reciprocal?”

She cited the market access disparity: “China only allows certain industries into China, and therefore only 2% of US exports are allowed into China. On the other hand, the US allows China to flood our markets with a third of their exports.”

Pelosi had called the jobs impact “the biggest and cruelest hoax of all” and demanded that Congress “draw the line” and tell the president to “do something about this US-China trade relationship that is a job loser for the United States.”

Thirty years later, the trade deficit had grown from $35 billion to $300 billion. The 2% vs. 35% tariff gap had widened. The technology transfer had accelerated. And the politicians who had identified the crisis in the 1990s were now opposing the president who was finally addressing it.

The Complete Hypocrisy

The compilation demonstrated the contradiction in its most complete form:

• Schumer 2007: “The administration needs to move beyond words, take action now to reverse a trend that threatens our prospects for future economic growth.”
• Schumer 2025: “We have a duty to repeal these tariffs.”
• Pelosi 1996: “Do something about this US-China trade relationship that is a job loser for the United States.”
• Pelosi 2025: Opposing the tariffs that did exactly what she demanded.

Both leaders had spent decades identifying the problem, demanding action, and then opposing the action when it finally came. The only variable that had changed was the party of the president implementing the policy.

Key Takeaways

• Schumer demanded tariff repeal while simultaneously showing a chart proving “the Chinese don’t play fair” and that “the time for action is now.”
• Pelosi’s 1996 speech made the identical case Trump was making: 2% U.S. tariff vs. 35% Chinese tariff, “the biggest and cruelest hoax of all.”
• Trump on the double standard: “Schumer and Pelosi wanted to do this for years. They never had a president with the guts.”
• The trade deficit grew from $35B (1996) to $300B (2025) while the politicians who identified the problem did nothing.
• Trump: “It’s a transition to greatness. Apple wouldn’t spend $500 billion if I didn’t do this. They’d just keep building in China.”