Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917

Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917
Great Seal of the United States
Long titleAn Act to define, regulate, and punish trading with the enemy, and for other purposes.
Acronyms (colloquial)TWEA
Enacted bythe 65th United States Congress
EffectiveOctober 6, 1917
Citations
Public lawPub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 65–91
Statutes at Large40 Stat. 411
Legislative history
  • Introduced in the House as H.R. 4960
  • Passed the House on  
  • Passed the Senate on  
  • Signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on October 6, 1917

The Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA) of 1917 (40 Stat. 411, codified at 12 U.S.C. § 95 and 50 U.S.C. § 4301 et seq.) is a United States federal law, enacted on October 6, 1917, in response to the United States declaration of war on Germany on April 6, 1917. It continues to give the President of the United States the power to oversee or restrict any and all trade between the United States and its enemies in times of war. TWEA was amended in 1933 by the Emergency Banking Act to extend the president’s authority also in peace time. It was amended again in 1977 by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to restrict again the application of TWEA only to times of war, while the IEEPA was intended to be used in peace time.[1]

TWEA is sometimes confused with the IEEPA, which grants somewhat broader powers to the President, and which is invoked during states of emergency when the United States is not at war. The IEEPA was passed in an attempt to rein in perceived abuses by the US President of the TWEA by making the powers subject to the National Emergencies Act (NEA). The NEA included a legislative veto to allow Congress to terminate a national emergency with a concurrent resolution.[2] However, the U.S. Supreme Court found such legislative vetoes unconstitutional in Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha. Following the Court's decision, Congress amended the NEA to require a joint resolution.[3]

The law set the basis for sanctions by the United States.[4] As of 2023, Cuba is the only country restricted under TWEA.[5] North Korea was removed from the provisions of TWEA in 2008, although restrictions under IEEPA authority remain in effect.[6][7]

  1. ^ An Act with respect to the powers of the President in time of war or national emergency (PDF) (Public Law 95-223). December 28, 1977.
  2. ^ Casey, Christopher A.; et al. (March 20, 2019). The International Emergency Economic Powers Act: Origins, Evolution, and Use (PDF). Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
  3. ^ An act to authorize appropriations for fiscal years 1986 and 1987 for the Department of State, the United States Information Agency, the Board for International Broadcasting, and for other purposes (PDF) (Public Law 99-93). U.S. Congress. August 16, 1985. See also Coates, Benjamin A. (July 2018). "The Secret Life of Statutes: A Century of the Trading with the Enemy Act". Modern American History. 1 (2): 151–172. doi:10.1017/mah.2018.12. ISSN 2515-0456.
  4. ^ Coates, Benjamin A. (2018). "The Secret Life of Statutes: A Century of the Trading with the Enemy Act". Modern American History. 1 (2): 151–172. doi:10.1017/mah.2018.12. ISSN 2515-0456.
  5. ^ Davis, Stuart (2023). Sanctions as War: Anti-Imperialist Perspectives on American Geo-Economic Strategy. Haymarket Books. p. 132. ISBN 978-1-64259-812-4. OCLC 1345216431.
  6. ^ "US to ease North Korea sanctions". BBC News. June 26, 2008. Retrieved June 27, 2008.
  7. ^ "Overview of Sanctions with North Korea". U.S. Treasury. Retrieved November 22, 2013.