Nov. 6, 2025, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government Executive Director Robert Romano today issued the following statement pointing to a 1977 House Report on the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) that married its language to “regulate… importation” to Section 5(b) of the Trading With the Enemy Act:
“President Trump followed the Constitution and the law in implementing his emergency national security tariffs. Both under the original legislative intent and on the language of the statute itself, the House Report on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act is unequivocal that ‘the grant of authorities basically parallels section 5(b) of the Trading With the Enemy Act’ including the language to ‘regulate… importation’ that President Richard Nixon used in 1971 to declare a national emergency to address the $2.2 billion U.S. trade in goods deficit and levied 10 percent duties on every trade partner in the world across the board, which was upheld at the time and therefore widely understood by Congress in 1977 to be a valid exercise of that authority when it re-included that exact delegation in IEEPA without amendment. IEEPA uses the same exact language and had the same exact intent as the Trading With the Enemy Act, and we know that because the House report explicitly said so. The House report even addressed Nixon’s 1971 usage and the court decision upholding it explicitly noting ‘the existence of the national emergency [declared by Nixon] made section 5(b) available for purposes which would not be contemplated in normal times.’ Justices don’t even need to guess or wonder what the intent was. It’s right in the report. Read the House report. It’s all in there. The Supreme Court must affirm the President’s unquestionably valid exercise of this authority.”
Attachments:
Trading With the Enemy Act Reform Legislation, House Committee on International Relations, June 23, 1977 at https://www.justsecurity.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IEEPA-House-Committee-on-International-Relations-report_1977-copy_clean.pdf#page=17 : “The 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) “defines the international emergency economic authorities available to the President in the circumstances specified in section 202. This grant of authorities basically parallels section 5(b) of the Trading With the Enemy Act.” And “the existence of the national emergency [declared by Nixon] made section 5(b) available for purposes which would not be contemplated in normal times.”
1977 House Report: IEEPA ‘Basically Parallels Section 5(b) Of The Trading With The Enemy Act’ That Allows President To ‘Regulate… Importation’ Of Goods, May 30, 2025 at https://dailytorch.com/2025/05/1977-house-report-ieepa-basically-parallels-section-5b-of-the-trading-with-the-enemy-act-that-allows-president-to-regulate-importation-of-goods/
For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at media@limitgov.org.
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