What is the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)?
On August 23rd, 2019, United States (U.S.) President Donald Trump tweeted, “Our great American companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China, including bring your companies HOME and making your products in the USA.”[1] President Trump’s basis for this unofficial order was that the U.S., “has lost, stupidly, Trillions of Dollars with China over many years” and China has “stolen” “Intellectual Property at a rate of Hundreds of Billions of Dollars a year.”[2]
In a follow up tweet, President Trump proclaimed that his authority for this unofficial order derives from the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA).[3] Presidents have successfully invoked the IEEPA as a basis for over 400 Executive Orders (EOs), with President Trump having issued six such orders.[4]
On August 6, President Trump invoked the IEEPA to potentially ban the Chinese applications WeChat and TikTok from the United States. Prior to the EO on August 6th, the most recent EO involving the IEEPA occured on May 1st, 2020 to block transactions involving “bulk-power system electronic equipment” by any person subject to U.S.’s jurisdiction with “persons owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direct of a foreign adversary.”[5] Proclaiming that the U.S.’s bulk-power system is…
