The Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA) of 1917 (40 Stat. 411, enacted 6 October 1917, codified at 12 U.S.C. §§ 95a–95b and 50 U.S.C. App. §§ 1–44) is a United States federal law to restrict trade with countries hostile to the United States. The law gives the President the power to oversee or restrict any and all trade between the United States and its enemies in times of war. In 1933, the U.S. Congress amended the Act by the passing the Emergency Banking Relief Act which extended the scope of the Trading with the Enemy Act regarding the hoarding of gold to include any declared national emergency and not just those declared solely during times of war. President Franklin D. Roosevelt then used these new authorities to essentially outlaw gold ownership through the issuance of Executive Order 6102. These restrictions continued until January 1, 1975. The Act has been amended several other times.
The Trading with the Enemy Act is sometimes confused with the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which grants somewhat broader powers to the President, and which is invoked during states of emergency when the United States is not at war.
As of 2017, Cuba is the only country restricted under the Act. North Korea is the most recent country to be removed from the provisions of the Act, although the restrictions remain in effect under IEEPA authority.