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US: Trump Considering National Emergency To Enact Universal Tariffs, CNN

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CNN reportingthat US President-elect Donald Trump is considering, “declaring a national economic emergency to provide legal justification" to enact universal tariffs on "allies and adversaries” citing four sources who confirmed that no final decision has been made.

  • According to CNN, the “declaration would allow Trump to construct a new tariff program by using the International Economic Emergency Powers Act [IEEPA] which unilaterally authorizes a president to manage imports during a national emergency.”
  • A source said, “Nothing is off the table,” acknowledging a “robust discussion over declaring a national emergency [...] has taken place.”
  • A trade attorney who served in Trump’s first administration said: “I think the president has broad authority to impose tariffs for a variety of reasons, and there are a number of statutory bases to do so. IEEPA is certainly one of them.”
  • CNN notes: “If Trump opted to declare a national economic emergency... it’s unclear what evidence he would cite,” but it should be noted that Trump’s team has previously floated declaring a national emergency to carry out deportations.
  • The report comes in the wake of market volatility prompted by a Washington Post report on Monday suggesting that Trump is investigating a softer universal tariff plan - appearing to confirm a common view that Trump is likely to pursue more pragmatic, targetted tariffs.
  • Trump nixed the WaPo report on Truth Social, suggesting that the new report may be strategically released to maintain a hardline tariff posture ahead of trade talks when Trump takes office on January 20.  
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CNN reportingthat US President-elect Donald Trump is considering, “declaring a national economic emergency to provide legal justification" to enact universal tariffs on "allies and adversaries” citing four sources who confirmed that no final decision has been made.

  • According to CNN, the “declaration would allow Trump to construct a new tariff program by using the International Economic Emergency Powers Act [IEEPA] which unilaterally authorizes a president to manage imports during a national emergency.”
  • A source said, “Nothing is off the table,” acknowledging a “robust discussion over declaring a national emergency [...] has taken place.”
  • A trade attorney who served in Trump’s first administration said: “I think the president has broad authority to impose tariffs for a variety of reasons, and there are a number of statutory bases to do so. IEEPA is certainly one of them.”
  • CNN notes: “If Trump opted to declare a national economic emergency... it’s unclear what evidence he would cite,” but it should be noted that Trump’s team has previously floated declaring a national emergency to carry out deportations.
  • The report comes in the wake of market volatility prompted by a Washington Post report on Monday suggesting that Trump is investigating a softer universal tariff plan - appearing to confirm a common view that Trump is likely to pursue more pragmatic, targetted tariffs.
  • Trump nixed the WaPo report on Truth Social, suggesting that the new report may be strategically released to maintain a hardline tariff posture ahead of trade talks when Trump takes office on January 20.