The dangerous tool Trump plans to use to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico

On November 25th, incoming President-Elect Donald Trump posted a message on his social media website Truth Social that shocked many. He declared his plans to impose a 25% tariff on all goods imported to the US from Canada and Mexico. 

Trump claimed he would sign the tariffs into law on his first day in office and added that they would stay in place until Canada and Mexico fixed their borders— insinuating each nation was allowing drugs and illegal immigrants to flood into the United States. 

Whether or not Trump’s claims were, and whether or not he would actually impose such heavy tariffs on his closest trading partners, have been heavily debated by experts ever since he made the claim. However, a recent report revealed Trump may do it. 

According to a January 8th report from CNN, Trump is considering declaring a national emergency in order to provide his administration with the legal justification he requires to impose his promised tariffs on Canada and Mexico. 

Sources familiar with the situation told CNN Trump is planning to use the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, more generally known as the IEEPA. This allows a president to unilaterally manage imports into the country during a national emergency. 

“Nothing is off the table,” a source told CNN when asked about the matter. The source also told the American news outlet that there have been discussions about using such measures to ensure Trump will be able to impose the tariffs once in office. 

According to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Yeutter Institute, the US Constitution grants Congress the power to levy tariffs on goods, but Presidents do have some tools at their disposal to impose tariffs that were delegated to the Executive Branch over time. 

For example, CBC News noted shortly after Trump made his tariff threat that he used Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose tariffs on China in 2018 and 2021. But this legal power is quite limited in its scope. 

CBS News reported that Section 301 allows a president to impose retaliatory tariffs when  "an act, policy, or practice of a foreign country … violates, or is inconsistent with, the provisions of, or otherwise denies benefits to the United States under, any trade agreement, or … is unjustifiable and burdens or restricts United States commerce."

Trump also used Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to impose tariffs on aluminum during his first term in office. However, imposing a blanket tariff on a country is far more difficult for a president to do unilaterally, which may be why Trump’s team is exploring the possibility of the IEEPA.  

The Trump transition team didn’t respond to CNN when asked to comment on the news but other reports have suggested using the IEEPA as a means to take control over the country’s import policy after his inauguration. 

Former General Counsel for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative Greta Peisch believes that Trump really could use the IEEPA after entering office to ensure that his administration can impose his promised blanket tariffs. 

“When you look at the link that the president-elect makes between tariff action and issues such as fentanyl and border security, he has not explained what authority he would use, but it would seem to be most closely linked to IEEPA,” Peisch said according to Global News. 

Global News reported no president has ever used the IEEPA to impose blanket tariffs, but added that Richard Nixon did briefly impose a 10% on all goods imported into the country using the IEEPA’s predecessor, the Trading With The Enemy Act. 

Whether or not Trump will use the IEEPA to impose a blanket 25% tariff on all imports from America’s two closest trading partners has yet to be seen, but Peisch noted that if he did, the IEEPA “would be a new tool in the tariff toolbox.”

If Trump does impose his proposed tariffs, the fallout would be disastrous for everyone involved. Mexico and Canada are America’s first and third largest sources of imports. In 2023 they were worth $900 billion according to the Brookings Institute, which noted that 17 million jobs rely on trade across North America, including 4.5 million in the US. 

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