Trading with the Enemy Act

E141877

United States federal statute emergency economic powers law

The Trading with the Enemy Act is a U.S. federal law enacted in 1917 that grants the President broad authority to regulate and restrict trade and financial transactions with foreign nations and individuals during times of war or national emergency.

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All labels observed (4)

Label	Occurrences
Trading with the Enemy Act canonical	8
Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917	6
An Act To define, regulate, and punish trading with the enemy, and for other purposes	1
Trading with the Enemy Act in peacetime emergencies	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1248544 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Trading with the Enemy Act
Context triple: [International Emergency Economic Powers Act, relatedTo, Trading with the Enemy Act]

A. Espionage Act of 1917
The Espionage Act of 1917 is a U.S. federal law enacted during World War I that criminalizes interference with military operations, support for U.S. enemies, and certain forms of dissent, and has been widely used and debated in national security and free speech cases.
B. Aldrich–Vreeland Act
The Aldrich–Vreeland Act was a 1908 U.S. law that created emergency currency provisions and laid groundwork for banking reform in response to the Panic of 1907.
C. War Powers Act of 1941
The War Powers Act of 1941 was a World War II-era U.S. law that granted President Franklin D. Roosevelt broad emergency authority to reorganize the executive branch and mobilize the nation’s resources for war.
D. An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States
An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States, better known as the Lend-Lease program, was a World War II U.S. policy that supplied Allied nations with vital military aid and equipment to support their fight against the Axis powers.
E. Defense Production Act of 1950
The Defense Production Act of 1950 is a U.S. federal law that grants the president broad authority to direct industrial production and prioritize contracts for national defense and emergency preparedness.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Trading with the Enemy Act
Target entity description: The Trading with the Enemy Act is a U.S. federal law enacted in 1917 that grants the President broad authority to regulate and restrict trade and financial transactions with foreign nations and individuals during times of war or national emergency.

A. Espionage Act of 1917
The Espionage Act of 1917 is a U.S. federal law enacted during World War I that criminalizes interference with military operations, support for U.S. enemies, and certain forms of dissent, and has been widely used and debated in national security and free speech cases.
B. Aldrich–Vreeland Act
The Aldrich–Vreeland Act was a 1908 U.S. law that created emergency currency provisions and laid groundwork for banking reform in response to the Panic of 1907.
C. War Powers Act of 1941
The War Powers Act of 1941 was a World War II-era U.S. law that granted President Franklin D. Roosevelt broad emergency authority to reorganize the executive branch and mobilize the nation’s resources for war.
D. An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States
An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States, better known as the Lend-Lease program, was a World War II U.S. policy that supplied Allied nations with vital military aid and equipment to support their fight against the Axis powers.
E. Defense Production Act of 1950
The Defense Production Act of 1950 is a U.S. federal law that grants the president broad authority to direct industrial production and prioritize contracts for national defense and emergency preparedness.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	United States federal statute ⓘ emergency economic powers law ⓘ
administeredBy	Office of Foreign Assets Control ⓘ U.S. Department of the Treasury ⓘ linked to: United States Department of the Treasury
amendedBy	Emergency Banking Act of 1933 ⓘ linked to: Emergency Banking Act various subsequent wartime and emergency statutes ⓘ
appliesDuring	national emergency ⓘ time of war ⓘ
authorizes	blocking of enemy property ⓘ licensing of otherwise prohibited transactions ⓘ seizure of enemy-owned assets under U.S. jurisdiction ⓘ
codifiedIn	50 U.S.C. App. §§ 1–44 (historical numbering) ⓘ
country	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
dateEnacted	1917-10-06 ⓘ
enactedBy	United States Congress ⓘ
enactedDuring	World War I ⓘ
givesPower	President may investigate, regulate, or prohibit transactions in foreign exchange ⓘ President may regulate transfers of credit or payments involving any foreign country or national thereof ⓘ
historicalContext	enacted shortly after U.S. entry into World War I ⓘ
historicalUse	used to control gold and currency flows during the Great Depression ⓘ used to impose restrictions on trade with enemy nations in both World Wars ⓘ
influenced	International Emergency Economic Powers Act ⓘ
jurisdiction	United States federal government ⓘ linked to: United States government
legalAuthorityGrantedTo	President of the United States ⓘ
longTitle	An Act To define, regulate, and punish trading with the enemy, and for other purposes ⓘ linked to: Trading with the Enemy Act
notableCase	Regan v. Wald ⓘ United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp. ⓘ
penaltiesInclude	civil penalties and forfeiture of property ⓘ criminal penalties for willful violations ⓘ
policyArea	economic sanctions ⓘ foreign trade regulation ⓘ national security ⓘ
purpose	to grant the President authority over foreign exchange and financial transactions during war or national emergency ⓘ to regulate and restrict trade with enemies and allies of enemies in time of war ⓘ
regulates	financial transactions with enemies and allies of enemies ⓘ foreign exchange ⓘ import and export of currency and securities ⓘ trade with foreign nations designated as enemies ⓘ
relatedTo	International Emergency Economic Powers Act ⓘ Office of Foreign Assets Control ⓘ
scope	applies to persons and property subject to U.S. jurisdiction ⓘ covers direct and indirect trade with enemies ⓘ
signedBy	Woodrow Wilson ⓘ
subjectOf	numerous U.S. Supreme Court decisions ⓘ
usedFor	control of international financial flows in wartime ⓘ economic sanctions ⓘ
yearEnacted	1917 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited