CNN
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President-elect Donald Trump is considering declaring a national economic emergency to provide legal justification for a host of universal tariffs on allies and adversaries, four sources familiar with the matter told CNN, as Trump seeks to overhaul the global trade balance in his second campaign realign term.

The declaration would allow Trump to construct a new tariff program using the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, known as “IEEPA,” which unilaterally authorizes a president to manage imports during a national emergency.

One of the sources said Trump has a fondness for the law because it grants broad authority to implement tariffs without imposing strict requirements to prove that the tariffs are necessary for national security reasons.

“Nothing is off the table,” a second source familiar with the matter said, acknowledging the heated discussion that has taken place over declaring a national emergency.

The Trump transition team did not respond to a request for comment.

In 2019, Trump used the IEEPA to threaten a 5% tariff on all Mexican imports, which would rise to 25% if Mexico refused to take action to reduce the number of undocumented immigrants crossing the border crossing the United States.

After Mexican officials traveled to Washington for a week of face-to-face negotiations — and an agreement was reached to reinstate the “Remain in Mexico” immigration policy — the tariffs were never implemented. But the specter of the potential action, foreshadowed by a national emergency Trump declared at the southern border three months earlier, prompted prominent business lobbying groups such as the Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable to prepare lawsuits challenging the legality of such a move.

No final decision has been made on whether to declare a national emergency, sources told CNN. Trump’s team is still exploring other legal avenues to bolster the tariffs Trump introduced during the campaign.

“I think the president has broad authority to impose tariffs for a variety of reasons, and there are a number of legal bases for doing so,” said Kelly Ann Shaw, a trade lawyer who served as Trump’s deputy assistant for international economic affairs. “IEEPA is certainly one of them.”

Trump’s advisers are exploring the possibility of using Section 338 of the U.S. Trade Code, which allows a president to impose “new or additional tariffs” against countries deemed to be discriminating against United States trade. In these cases, trade law allows the president to impose new tariffs on those countries in certain product categories in direct retaliation – although this has not been tried in recent history.

They are also considering an overhaul of the trade law – known as Section 301 – that launched Trump’s original tariffs against China on national security grounds. The Biden administration left the vast majority of Trump’s tariffs in place – and increased tariffs on certain products such as electric vehicles – giving the new president the basis to increase or adjust tariffs as he sees fit. However, imposing tariffs under this law requires a government investigation, and companies affected by the changes often lobby for months to be excluded from the duties.

If Trump decided to declare a national economic emergency that could quickly take effect, it is unclear what evidence he would cite. During a press conference on Tuesday, Trump acknowledged the inherent strength of the economy, criticized inflation, but also said: “In the next four years, the United States will take off like a rocket ship.” But in fact it already is.” Trump referred to the rising economic approval ratings in recent surveys.

Proponents of the tariffs say they are critical to boosting U.S. manufacturing.

“The Trump team understands that for economic and national security reasons, we must rebuild our industrial capacity, and that will benefit communities and American workers,” said Nick Iacovella, senior vice president of the Coalition for a Prosperous America. “Achieving these goals absolutely requires a robust, pro-American trade policy that includes tariffs.”

— CNN’s Kate Sullivan contributed to this report.