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Executive Order 11106 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution

Executive Order 11106—Providing for the Administration of the Trade Agreements Program and Related Matters

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Thursday, April 18, 1963
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4 min read (862 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 4 min read (862 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

Executive Order No. 11075 of January 15, 1963 (28 F.R. 473), be, and it is hereby, amended as follows: SECTION 1.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority
Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

Signed by President John F. Kennedy on April 18, 1963, this order concerns Providing for the Administration of the Trade Agreements Program and Related Matters. Executive Order No. 11075 of January 15, 1963 (28 F.R. 473), be, and it is hereby, amended as follows: SECTION 1. Amend the heading of the order to read "ADMINISTRATION OF THE TRADE AGREEMENTS PROGRAM". SEC. 2. In Section 1, substitute "Definitions.

Constitutional Assessment: This action represents an orderly exercise of Article II administrative discretion, managing the internal machinery and personnel of the executive branch without abridging the ancient liberties of the people.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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Executive Order No. 11075 of January 15, 1963 (28 F.R. 473), be, and it is hereby, amended as follows: SECTION 1.

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Amend the heading of the order to read "ADMINISTRATION OF THE TRADE AGREEMENTS PROGRAM".

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" for "Definition." , and add the following new subsection (b): "(b ) As used in this order the term 'the trade agreements program' includes all activities consisting of, or related to, the negotiation or administration of trade agreements (other than treaties) concluded pursuant to the authority vested in the President by the Constitution, S 350 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, or the Act." SEC. 3.

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Amend Section 2 to read as follows: "SEC. 2.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises
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The Framers' Constitutional Council

1787 Prism

Evaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.

🏛️✅ Zone 1 (Maximum Authority)
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"When the President acts pursuant to an express or implied authorization of Congress, his authority is at its maximum, for it includes all that he possesses in his own right plus all that Congress can delegate."

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
JM

James Madison

Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy

"The constitutional magistracy was designed not to invent policy, but to be the faithful instrument of the laws passed by the people's representatives." — Speech in the First Congress (1789)

Madison would approve the structural posture of this order. The President acts strictly in subordination to statutory authority granted under Article II, Section 3 ("take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"). The checks and balances hold firm because the policy origin remains with the legislature.

Madisonian Stance: Concurring (Statutory)
AH

Alexander Hamilton

The Energetic Executive & Unified Command

"The direction of war implies the direction of the common strength; and the power of directing and employing the common strength must be under the direction of the single hand of the Executive." — Federalist No. 74 (1788)

Hamilton would forcefully champion executive discretion here. For foreign entanglements, commerce defense, and national security, deliberative assemblies are too slow and faction-ridden. A unified, energetic Executive exercising swift command is precisely what the Philadelphia Convention intended for national preservation.

Hamiltonian Stance: Supportive of Execution
GM

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The president will be surrounded by flatterers and sycophants... and the great powers of the executive will gradually absorb the liberties of the people." — Cato IV (Anti-Federalist, 1787)

The Anti-Federalist prism advises continuous democratic vigilance. Even routine administrative directives aggregate centralized federal power away from town halls and state assemblies toward a distant executive apparatus.

Anti-Federalist Stance: Eternal Vigilance Required
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Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions

An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.

⚖️ Discretionary Twilight Zone
36 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Moderate Friction

Administers commerce or fiscal programs requiring ongoing statutory delegation and legislative oversight.

Benchmark: Power of the purse, taxes/tariffs, and rule of law reserved to Congress.
Dimension 2 • Art. II, §1 & §3

Executive Scope & Faithfulness

Moderate Friction

Directs internal executive branch machinery, agency workflows, and federal personnel.

Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment

Federalism & State Sovereignty

Moderate Friction

Engages state and local partners in cooperative federalism programs.

Benchmark: Police powers and un-delegated responsibilities reserved to the States.
Dimension 4 • 5th & 14th Amendments

Due Process & Individual Rights

Low Friction

Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.

Benchmark: Protection of private property, contracts, liberty, and procedural justice.
Dimension 5 • Separation of Powers

Youngstown Jacksonian Tier

Low Friction

The President operates strictly as the constitutional Chief Executive, carrying out policy established by Congress with strong statutory backing.

Benchmark: Express or Implied Congressional Authorization
⚖️ Audit Synthesis

This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.

Weighted composite: Art. I (25%), Art. II (25%), Federalism (15%), Due Process (15%), Youngstown (20%).
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How to read these dimensions: Executive power expands whenever an administration acts without explicit statutory authorization from Congress (Article I), touches upon police powers historically reserved to the states (Tenth Amendment), or limits private rights and property without judicial process. A low friction score indicates strict concordance with enacted law; a high friction score highlights orders testing the limits of presidential discretion.
Total Words
862
5,255 characters
Estimated Read Time
4 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
14.9
College Level
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (76 Stat. 872), Section 350 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1351), and Section 301 of title 3 of the United States Code, and as President of the United States, it is ordered that Executive Order No. 11075 of January 15, 1963 (28 F.R. 473), be, and it is hereby, amended as follows: SECTION 1. Amend the heading of the order to read "ADMINISTRATION OF THE TRADE AGREEMENTS PROGRAM". SEC. 2. In Section 1, substitute "Definitions. (a)" for "Definition." , and add the following new subsection (b): "(b ) As used in this order the term 'the trade agreements program' includes all activities consisting of, or related to, the negotiation or administration of trade agreements (other than treaties) concluded pursuant to the authority vested in the President by the Constitution, S 350 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, or the Act." SEC. 3. Amend Section 2 to read as follows: "SEC. 2. Office of Special Representative. (a) There is hereby established in the Executive Office of the President an agency which shall be known as the Office of the Special Representative for Trade Negotiations. "(b) There shall be at the head of the said Office the Special Representative for Trade Negotiations provided for in Section 241 of the Act (hereinafter referred to as the Special Representative), who shall be directly responsible to the President. "(c) There shall be in the said Office a Deputy Special Representative for Trade Negotiations with the rank of Ambassador, whose principal functions shall be to conduct negotiations under title II of the Act, and who shall perform such additional duties as the Special Representative may direct." SEC. 4. In Section 3, amend subsection (b) to read as follows: "(b) The Special Representative shall advise and assist the President in the administration of, and facilitate the carrying out of, the trade agreements program. In addition, the Special Representative shall advise the President with respect to non-tariff barriers to international trade, international commodity agreements, and other matters which are related to the trade agreements program." SEC. 5. In subsection (c) of Section 3, substitute "trade agreements program" for "Act" in each place that word appears. SEC. 6. In Section 3, delete subsection (i), redesignate subsection (h) as subsection (i), and insert the following new subsection (h) : "(h) After the President has entered into a trade agreement which provides for any new tariff concession, the Special Representative shall submit to the President, for transmission by him to each House of Congress, copies of such trade agreement, together with a draft of the statement relating thereto provided for in Section 226 of the Act. In addition, the Special Representative shall transmit to each House of Congress copies of agreements supplementary to trade agreements which do not provide for any new tariff concession, and of such other documents relating to the trade agreements program as he considers appropriate, together with a brief statement describing each such supplementary agreement or other document." SEC. 7. In Section 3, add the following new subsection (1) at the end of the section: "(1) The Special Representative shall prepare or have prepared for consideration by the President, in a form suitable for inclusion in title 48 of the Code of Federal Regulations, any proclamation which relates wholly or primarily to the trade agreements program. Any such proclamation shall be subject, to the provisions of Executive Order No. 11030 of June 19, 1962 (27 F.R. 5847), except that such proclamation need not be submitted for approval to the Director of the Bureau of the Budget as provided in Sections 2 (a) and (b) of that order but may be transmitted directly to the Attorney General for his consideration as to both form and legality." SEC. 8. In Section 4, redesignate subsection (f) as subsection (g), and insert the following new subsection (f) : "(f) Before making recommendations to the President under Section 242(b) (2) of the Act, the Committee shall, through the Special Representative, request the advice of the Adjustment Assistance Advisory Board, created by the provisions of Section 361 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, concerning the feasibility of adjustment assistance to workers and firms." SEC. 9. In Section 9, insert "or this order" after "the Act". SEC. 10. Substitute "13 (b)" for "12 (b)" in Section 12 (a), renumber Sections 11 and 12 as Sections 12 and 13, respectively, and insert the following new Section 11: "SEC. 11. Redelegation. Delegations of authority made by this order to the Special Representative, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Secretary of Labor, and other assignments of authority made by this order to the Special Representative, shall be deemed to include the power of successive redelegation." Section 2 of Executive Order No. 11075 of January 15, 1963 (28 F.R. 473), as amended by Section 3 of this order shall be deemed to have become effective January 15, 1963; and said Executive Order No. 11075 as amended shall be codified under title 48 of the Code of Federal Regulations. JOHN F. KENNEDY

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

April 18, 1963

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (2)

Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 11,106 (Apr. 18, 1963), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-11106-providing-for-the-administration-the-trade-agreements-program-and.