Trump to declare national economic emergency in order to push through tariffs, report says
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President-elect has threatened nations including Canada, Mexico and China with steep duties on their products even before taking office. Even before taking office, the president-elect has threatened tariffs of as much as 10 percent on global imports and 60 percent on Chinese goods, plus a 25 percent import surcharge on Canadian and Mexican products.
Such duties are intended to provide a boost to American manufacturing but experts have warned that, in practice, they could backfire by upending trade flows, raise costs and invite harmful retaliatory measures. Declaring an emergency would allow Trump to use the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA), which empowers a commander-in-chief to seize control of the management of imports in a time of crisis, although what basis he would have for doing so right now remains to be seen.
During his latest freewheeling press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, the president-elect contradicted much of his apocalyptic campaign rhetoric by unexpectedly admitting that the US economy is in rude health, despite the current struggle with inflation.
“Over the next four years the United States is going to take off like a rocket ship,” he predicted. “But really it’s already doing it.”. Trump is keen on weaponizing the IEEPA, an insider told CNN, because it grants a president sweeping powers over the implementation of tariffs without strict requirements demanding that they justify the steps taken on national security grounds.
