Pricing Controls Under The Defense Production Act

With the federal government's increasing focus on enforcing price gouging compliance, attention has turned to the Defense Production Act (the "DPA"). Passed in 1950 in response to the Korean War, the DPA is modelled on the War Powers Acts of 1941 and 1942 and gives the President, among other things, sweeping power to control the domestic economy during times of crisis. Despite these origins, the DPA is routinely invoked in a variety of circumstances, including in response to natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina and now COVID-19 (the DPA as later amended in 1988 is also the basis for the president's authority to block certain foreign investment into the U.S. on national security grounds through the Committee of Foreign Investment in the U.S. - or CFIUS).