US President-elect Donald Trump speaks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, USA on January 7, 2025.
Carlos Barria | Reuters
President-elect Donald Trump is considering calling a national economic emergency to implement sweeping tariff policies, four sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
A declaration of this nature would give Trump the authority to create the tariff program he made the apex of his White House campaign through the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, CNN reported. The law, also known as IEEPA, authorizes the president to oversee imports during times of national crisis.
Stock futures fell after CNN’s report Wednesday morning, and the U.S. dollar strengthened against most other currencies.
CNN sources noted that President Trump has not made a final decision on whether to declare a national emergency. Trump’s team is also evaluating alternative legal arguments, including pointing to specific provisions of U.S. trade law, CNN reported.
Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
During his campaign, Trump frequently advocated for taxes on imported goods, sometimes calling for fees of more than 60% on Chinese goods. Weeks after their victory, Republicans vowed to raise tariffs by 10% on imports from China and impose a 25% fee on products from Canada or Mexico.
The Washington Post reported on Monday that President Trump would narrow the scope of the tariffs, an approach Wall Street appears to prefer. However, the president-elect later denied the report.
Read CNN’s full story here.
