The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), Title II of , is a United States federal law authorizing the president to regulate international commerce after declaring a national emergency in response to any unusual and extraordinary threat to the United States which has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States. The act was signed by President Jimmy Carter on December 28, 1977. Provisions In the United States Code, the IEEPA is Title 50, §§1701–1707. The IEEPA authorizes the president to declare the existence of an "unusual and extraordinary threat... to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States" that originates "in whole or substantial part outside the United States." It further authorizes the president, after such a declaration, to block transactions and freeze assets to deal with the threat. In the event of an actual attack on the United States, the president can also confiscate property connected with a country, group, or person that aided in the attack. The IEEPA falls under the provisions of the National Emergencies Act (NEA), which means that an emergency declared under the act must be renewed annually to remain in effect. The authority given to the President under the IEEPA does not grant them the ability to regulate or prohibit, directly or indirectly, any forms of personal communication (including means such as mail, telegraph or telephone), which “does not involve a transfer of anything of value;” imports or exports of information or any informational materials, “regardless of format or medium of transmission” (including but not limited to publications, films, posters, phonograph records, photographs, microforms, tapes, compact discs, CD-ROMs, artworks and news wire feeds, and interpreted to include modern mediums such as DVDs, digital media content and social media); certain donations “intended to be used to relieve human suffering” (such as food, clothing, and medicine); and any travel-related transactions (including importation of personal baggage, “maintenance within any country” including payment of living expenses and acquisition of goods or services intended for personal use, and arrangement or facilitation of such travel including non-scheduled air, sea, or land voyages). History Curtailment of emergency executive powers Congress enacted the IEEPA in 1977 to clarify and restrict presidential power during times of declared national emergency under the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917 ("TWEA"). Under TWEA, starting with Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, presidents had the power to declare emergencies without