Carter signs IEEPA, replacing broad emergency trade powers

President Carter signed the International Emergency Economic Powers Act on December 28, 1977, replacing the Trading with the Enemy Act as the primary source of presidential emergency economic authority in peacetime. Congress drafted IEEPA to limit presidential power after a Senate investigation found the country had been in a continuous state of emergency for more than 40 years. The law required the president to declare a national emergency, consult with Congress, and justify emergency actions tied to a foreign threat. Carter first used IEEPA the following year to freeze Iranian government assets after the Tehran embassy hostage seizure.