Another Great Depression? Ronald Reagan's ominous 1987 speech on tariffs resurfaces. WATCH

As Donald Trump's tariffs kick in on April 2, a speech by former US president Ronald Reagan has resurfaced on the internet. The 40th president of the United States warned of “trade wars“ and asked people to beware of “demogogues who are ready to declare a trade war against our friends” in a radio speech he made nearly 40 years ago

The speech by Reagan focusses on Free and Fair Trade and Canadian elections. Reagan stated in the speech that "the way to prosperity for all nations is rejecting protectionist legislation and promoting fair and free competition."

Reagan said that while tariffs might look appealing at first, they are the reason for economic devastation.

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"At first, when someone says let's impose tariffs on foreign imports, it looks like they are doing a patriotic thing by protecting American products and jobs. Sometimes, for a short while, it works, but only for a short time," Reagan said in the speech.

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"What eventually occurs is, first homegrown industries start relying on government protections in the form of high tariffs. They stop competing and stop making innovative management and technological changes they need to succeed in world markets."

Watch Ronald Reagan's speech on tariffs below

Tariffs trigger "fierce trade wars"

Reagan added that this leads to worldwide trade wars.

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"Then something even worse occurs. High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars. 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, people stop buying."

Tariffs made the Great Depression worse: Reagan

Reagan warned that tariffs made things worse during the Great Depression, and "the memory of the suffering it caused is deep and searing."

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He cited economic analysts and historians to state that "high tariff legislation passed during the time of Great Depression, called the Smoot-Hawley Tariff, greatly deepened the depression and affected economic recovery."

"Then the worst happens. Markets shrink and collapse, businesses and industries shut down, and millions of people lose their jobs."

"The memory of all this happening in the 1930s made me determined when I came to Washington to spare the American people the protectionist legislation that destroys prosperity."

America's prosperity, millions of jobs at risk?

The former president who ruled from 1981 to 1989 said that there are some people who forget the risks of high tariffs for some short-term gain, leading to millions of people losing their jobs.

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"There are some who, for short-term political advantage, risk America's prosperity for the sake of short-term appeal to some special interest group who forget that more than 5 million American jobs are directly tied to the foreign export business and additional millions are tied to imports."

Notably, Trump has had an aggressive approach towards tariffs since he took office, promoting the belief that they would be good for the US economy. However, investors, economists, CEOs and the general public fear that the import taxes might prove harmful.

Labelling April 2 as "Liberation Day", Trump believes that the tariffs will end America's reliance on foreign goods.