TMTPOST --  More signs are showing U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is mulling new tariffs that could trigger a worldwide trade war.

Credit：Xinhua News Agency

 Trump is considering declaring a national economic emergency to legally allow for a large swath of universal tariffs on either allies or adversaries, CNN reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. Such declaration would empower Trump to create the tariff program under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA), which unilaterally authorizes a U.S. president to manage imports during a national emergency, according to the report.

The aforementioned sources noted Trump prefers IEEPA since the law grants wide-ranging jurisdiction over how tariffs are implemented without strict requirements to prove the tariffs are needed out of national security, however, alternatives are also on the table. According to the report, the Trump transition team has not made final decision on whether he will declare a national emergency, and is weighing other legal arguments, such as the Section 338 and Section 301 of U.S. trade law.

The Section 338 allows a president to impose “new or additional duties” against countries deemed to be discriminating against the commerce of the United States. Trump has launched Section 301 tariff hikes on China in his first presidential term, and China has repeated claimed that the World Trade Organization (WTO) has ruled that the Section 301 tariffs against China violate WTO rules, but Washington is going further down the wrong path by raising tariffs under that Section.

The Trump team didn’t respond to the report. That is the latest possible move about Trump’s tariff plan since his presidential election victory.

In a post on his social media platform Truth Social on November 25, Trump said his first of “many” executive orders on January 20, the day he takes office, would introduce 25% tariffs on goods entering the US from Canada and Mexico, and will also increase existing tariffs on China by 10%.

Trump said extra tariffs will be in place until Mexico and Canada clamp down on drugs and illegal migrants crossing the border. "As everyone is aware, thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing crime and drugs at levels never seen before," he wrote. 

For China, an additional 10% tariff will be charged on goods coming from China, on top of any other tariffs until cracks down on fentanyl being smuggled out the country.10% is lower than Trump threatened before. As a candidate, he has had pledged to slap 60% tariffs on all goods coming in from China and 10% tariffs on goods imported from all other countries.

Trump said he had many talks with China about the massive amounts of drugs, in particular Fentanyl, being sent into the United States, but to no avail. “Representatives of China told me that they would institute their maximum penalty, that of death, for any drug dealers caught doing this but, unfortunately, they never followed through, and drugs are pouring into our Country, mostly through Mexico, at levels never seen before,” wrote Trump.

Earlier this week, the Washington Post reported Trump is considering a plan that narrow the focus of new tariffs a select set of goods and services. Trump disputed the report on Monday.“The story in the Washington Post, quoting so-called anonymous sources, which don’t exist, incorrectly states that my tariff policy will be pared back. That is wrong,” the president-elect said in a post on Truth Social.