★
Executive Orders Historical Archive
Cite
Executive Order 13883 🏛️✅ Zone 1: Maximum Authority Constitutional Fidelity (+0.56) 📜 Art. I §8: Delegated Tariff & Commerce Execution

Executive Order 13883—Administration of Proliferation Sanctions and Amendment of Executive Order 12851

•
Thursday, August 1, 2019
•
4 min read (826 words)
•
84 Fed. Reg. 38113

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 4 min read (826 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

When the President, or the Secretary of State pursuant to authority delegated by the President and in accordance with the terms of such delegation, pursuant to section 307(b)(1) of the CBW Act, selects for imposition on a country one or more of the sanctions set forth below and in section 307(b)(2) of that Act, the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall take the following actions, when necessary, to implement such sanctions: (i) oppose, in accordance with section 701 of the International Financial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262d), the extension of any loan or financial or technical assistance to that country by international financial institutions; and (ii) prohibit any United States bank from…

⚖️ 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 Sovereign State Governments & Localities Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

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

Signed by President Donald J. Trump (1st Term) on August 1, 2019, this order concerns Administration of Proliferation Sanctions and Amendment of Executive Order 12851. When the President, or the Secretary of State pursuant to authority delegated by the President and in accordance with the terms of such delegation, pursuant to section 307(b)(1) of the CBW Act, selects for imposition on a country one or more of the sanctions set forth below and in section 307(b)(2) of that Act, the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall take the following…

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

▪

When the President, or the Secretary of State pursuant to authority delegated by the President and in accordance with the terms of such delegation, pursuant to section 307(b)(1) of the CBW Act, selects for imposition on a country one or more of the sanctions set forth below and in section 307(b)(2) of that Act, the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall take the following actions, when necessary, to implement such sanctions: (i) oppose, in accordance with section 701 of the International Financial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262d), the extension of any loan or financial or technical assistance to that country by international financial institutions; and (ii) prohibit any United States bank from…

▪

Any transaction that evades or avoids, has the purpose of evading or avoiding, causes a violation of, or attempts to violate the prohibition set forth in section 1(a)(ii) of this order is prohibited.

▪

Any conspiracy formed to violate the prohibition set forth in section 1(a)(ii) of this order is prohibited.

▪

Subsection (b) of section 1 of Executive Order 12851 of June 11, 1993 (Administration of Proliferation Sanctions, Middle East Arms Control, and Related Congressional Reporting Responsibilities), is amended by adding the following new paragraph 4 after paragraph 3: "(4) The authorities and duties vested in me to oppose certain multilateral development bank assistance and to prohibit certain bank loans as provided in section 307(b)(2)(A)-(B), pursuant to a determination made by the Secretary of State under section 307(b)(1), are delegated to the Secretary of the Treasury." Sec. 4 .

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Merchants, Importers & Commercial Enterprises 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners 🏛️ Foreign Nations & International Entities
🏛️

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)
§

"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
📐

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
57 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

High Friction

Touches upon core congressional prerogatives: raises appropriations reallocation, tariff imposition, or statutory preemption questions.

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

Executive Scope & Faithfulness

High Friction

Invokes broad unilateral or emergency executive authorities that test the constitutional boundary of the Take Care Clause.

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

Moderate Friction

Applies regulatory or compliance standards to private contractors or commercial entities.

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%).
ℹ️
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
826
5,170 characters
Estimated Read Time
4 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
19.9
Post-Graduate Legal
Language Tone Score
+0.56
Constitutional Fidelity
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document
📑Sections Outline (6 sections)

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq .) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq .) (NEA), sections 305-308 of the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (CBW Act), Public Law 102-182 (50 U.S.C. App. 2410c; 22 U.S.C. 2798, 5604-5606), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, I, Donald J. Trump, President of the United States of America, in order to take additional steps with respect to the national emergency described and declared in Executive Order 12938 of November 14, 1994, as amended by and relied on for additional steps in subsequent Executive Orders, hereby order:

Section 1 . #sec-1

(a) When the President, or the Secretary of State pursuant to authority delegated by the President and in accordance with the terms of such delegation, pursuant to section 307(b)(1) of the CBW Act, selects for imposition on a country one or more of the sanctions set forth below and in section 307(b)(2) of that Act, the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall take the following actions, when necessary, to implement such sanctions: (i) oppose, in accordance with section 701 of the International Financial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262d), the extension of any loan or financial or technical assistance to that country by international financial institutions; and (ii) prohibit any United States bank from making any loan or providing any credit to the government of that country, except for loans or credits for the purpose of purchasing food or other agricultural commodities or products. (b) The prohibition in subsection (a)(ii) of this section applies except to the extent provided by statutes, or in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding any contract entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the date of this order.

Sec. 2 . #sec-2

(a) Any transaction that evades or avoids, has the purpose of evading or avoiding, causes a violation of, or attempts to violate the prohibition set forth in section 1(a)(ii) of this order is prohibited. (b) Any conspiracy formed to violate the prohibition set forth in section 1(a)(ii) of this order is prohibited.

Sec. 3 . #sec-3

Subsection (b) of section 1 of Executive Order 12851 of June 11, 1993 (Administration of Proliferation Sanctions, Middle East Arms Control, and Related Congressional Reporting Responsibilities), is amended by adding the following new paragraph 4 after paragraph 3: "(4) The authorities and duties vested in me to oppose certain multilateral development bank assistance and to prohibit certain bank loans as provided in section 307(b)(2)(A)-(B), pursuant to a determination made by the Secretary of State under section 307(b)(1), are delegated to the Secretary of the Treasury."

Sec. 4 . #sec-4

For the purposes of this order: (a) the term "entity" means a partnership, association, trust, joint venture, corporation, group, subgroup, or other organization; (b) the term "government" means a government, any political subdivision, agency, or instrumentality thereof, and any person owned or controlled by, or acting for or on behalf of, that government; and (c) the term "United States bank" means any entity organized under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States (including its foreign branches), or any entity in the United States, that is engaged in the business of accepting deposits, making, granting, transferring, holding, or brokering loans or credits, or purchasing or selling foreign exchange, securities, commodity futures, or options, or procuring purchasers and sellers thereof, as principal or agent.

Sec. 5 . #sec-5

The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized to take such actions, including promulgating rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the President by IEEPA and the CBW Act as may be necessary to implement this order. The Secretary of the Treasury may, consistent with applicable law, redelegate any of these functions within the Department of the Treasury. All agencies of the United States Government shall take all appropriate measures within their authority to carry out the provisions of this order.

Sec. 6 . #sec-6

(a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations. (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. DONALD J. TRUMP The White House, August 1, 2019.

📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 13,883, 84 Fed. Reg. 38,113 (Aug. 1, 2019).