Defense Production Act trivia: 32 facts about the United States federal law

The Defense Production Act of 1950 is a United States federal law enacted on September 8, 1950. It was enacted in response to the start of the Korean War.

So let’s dive into some more trivia and facts about this federal law.

1. The Defense Production Act of 1950 is a United States federal law enacted on September 8, 1950
2. It was enacted in response to the start of the Korean War
3. It was part of a broad civil defense and war mobilization effort in the context of the Cold War
4. Its implementing regulations, the Defense Priorities and Allocation System (DPAS), are located at 15 CFR §§700 to 700.93
5. Since 1950, the Act has been reauthorized over 50 times
6. It has been periodically amended and remains in force
7. The Act contains three major sections
8. The first authorizes the President to require businesses to sign contracts or fulfill orders deemed necessary for national defense
9. It also allows the president to designate materials to be prohibited from hoarding or price-gouging
10. The second section authorizes the President to establish mechanisms (such as regulations, orders or agencies) to allocate materials, services and facilities to promote national defense
11. The third section authorizes the President to control the civilian economy so that scarce and/or critical materials necessary to the national defense effort are available for defense needs
12. The Act also authorizes the President to requisition property, force industry to expand production and the supply of basic resources, impose wage and price controls, settle labor disputes, control consumer and real estate credit, establish contractual priorities, and allocate raw materials towards national defense
13. The President’s authority to place contracts under the DPA is the part of the Act most often used by the Department of Defense (DOD) since the 1970s
14. Most of the other functions of the Act are administered by the Office of Strategic Industries and Economic Security (SIES) in the Bureau of Industry and Security in the Department of Commerce
15. The Defense Priorities and Allocations System institutes a rating system for contracts and purchase orders
16. The highest priority is DX, which must be approved by the Secretary of Defense
17. The next level down is DO, and below that are unrated contracts
18. The DPA, passed by the U.S. Congress in September 1950, was first used during the Korean War to establish a large defense mobilization infrastructure and bureaucracy
19. Under the authority of the Act, President Harry S. Truman eventually established the Office of Defense Mobilization, instituted wage and price controls, strictly regulated production in heavy industries such as steel and mining, prioritized and allocated industrial materials in short supply, and ordered the dispersal of wartime manufacturing plants across the nation
20. The Act also played a vital role in the establishment of the domestic aluminum and titanium industries in the 1950s
21. Using the Act, DOD provided capital and interest-free loans, and directed mining and manufacturing resources
22. As well as skilled laborers to these two processing industries
23. The DPA was used sporadically during the Cold War
24. Beginning in the 1980s, DOD began using the contracting and spending provisions of the DPA to provide seed money to develop new technologies
25. Using the Act, DOD has helped to develop a number of new technologies and materials, including silicon carbide ceramics, indium phosphide and gallium arsenide semiconductors, microwave power tubes, radiation-hardened microelectronics, superconducting wire, and metal composites
26. In 2011, under President Barack Obama, the law was invoked to force telecommunications companies, under criminal penalties, to provide detailed information to the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security on the use of foreign-manufactured hardware and software in the companies’ networks, as part of efforts to combat Chinese cyberespionage
27. In June 2017, President Donald Trump asked to adequately provide critical technology in the space industrial base in a timely manner pursuant to Section 4533(a)(5) of the act
28. On March 18, 2020, Trump invoked the Defense Production Act in response to the COVID-19 outbreak
29. Although Trump invoked the DPA, he indicated that he would not actually make immediate use of DPA authority
30. Writing, “Hopefully there will be no need,” and indicating that he would do so in a “worst-case scenario”
31. Trump’s reluctance to use the act’s authorities prompted criticism
32. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi called upon Trump to “immediately use the powers of the Defense Production Act to mass produce and coordinate distribution of” critically needed hospital equipment such as ventilators, swabs, and personal protective equipment (e.g., masks, gowns, and gloves)