U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is considering declaring a national economic emergency to provide legal justification for a series of universal tariffs on allies and adversaries. In the era of Barrack Obama, he established an “Office of President-elect”, which is the first president to do so. But for Donald Trump, there is no need, for he uses his Mar-a-Lago as his office and palace all the way.
Why there is a need for such a declaration, for he is using his administrative power to do so. For Treaty and Agreement need to be passed by the Congress and negotiation with the WTO need investigation. Tariff signed by treaty ultimately need to get approval by Congress first, and those states near the borderline by Mexico and Canada surely might not totally agreed no matter they are blue or red state. But Such a Declaration is authorized by the Congress. It is an updated version of the 1917 Trading with the Enemy Act, which the late President Richard Nixon invoked in 1971 to impose a 10% universal tariff. The International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA), which authorizes a president to manage imports during a national emergency. Trump invoked IEEPA in 2019 for a similar 5% tariff threat against Mexican imports over illegal immigration.
With effective from next week, the writer will have special topic on Greenland, Panama Canal, Canada and Mexico to show how Trump handles the new era.