President-elect Donald Trump is considering putting the U.S. in a state of national emergency to execute his broad tariff plan, according to CNN, citing sources familiar. A final decision has not yet been made and Trump's team is also evaluating alternative legal options for implementing the taxes on imports,

A national emergency declaration under IEEPA has long been considered as a key legal tool that Trump may invoke to take quick action on his campaign promise to impose a universal tariff of at least 10% on all imports into the US.

The IEEPA statute 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 to ease a balance of payments crisis and push Germany and Japan to strengthen the value their currencies against the dollar.

U.S. stock index futures fell on Wednesday after CNN reported President-elect Donald Trump was considering a national economic emergency declaration to allow for a new tariff program.

The move will allow Trump to build a new tariff program by using the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, which authorizes a president to manage imports during a national emergency, the report said.

Stocks logged small gains Wednesday on two major indexes, despite uninspiring economic reports and some ominous words from the president-elect. The S&P 500 finished the day up 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.

President-elect of the USA, Donald Trump, is considering declaring a state of emergency in the national economy to provide legal justification for implementing a series of widespread tariffs, CNN reported on Wednesday,