As you know, one of the possible mechanisms for the Trump Administration to impose new tariffs quickly would be to use the authority available under IEEPA. The Congressional Research Service recently updated their insight report on The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and Tariffs: Historical Background and Key Issues, given President-elect Donald Trump’s repeated campaign promises to impose a 10-20% tariff on all imports.
Many analysts (1) (2) (3) have suggested that IEEPA remains one of the more likely options for President-elect Trump’s proposed tariffs. Although no President has used IEEPA to impose tariffs, President Nixon imposed a 10% tariff on all imports into the United States in response to a monetary crisis using IEEPA’s precursor statute, the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917 (TWEA). This remains the only time a President has used emergency authority, like that provided by IEEPA, to impose a tariff.
The report looks at Nixon’s 1971 Proclamation 4074, when he declared a national emergency and imposed an additional 10% tariff on all imports, the United States v. Yoshida International decision by the U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, and the reaction to both. The report then lays out the options for Congress if it disapproves of the tariff.