Executive Order 9177—Defining Additional Functions, Duties and Powers of the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Reconstruction Finance Corporation

By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, and particularly by Title I of the First War Powers Act, 1941, approved December 18, 1941 (Public Law 354, 77th Congress), as President of the United States and Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, it is hereby ordered as follows:

1. The Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Navy, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Reconstruction Finance Corporation are each authorized to exercise the functions, powers and duties heretofore vested in the Secretary of the Navy by that provision of an act approved June 30, 1914 (38 Stat. 399; 34 U.S.C. 568) which reads as follows:

"Provided, That hereafter the Secretary of the Navy is hereby authorized to make emergency purchases of war material abroad: And provided further, That when such purchases are made abroad, this material shall be admitted free of duty."

2. The Commissioner of Customs, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, shall issue regulations governing the entry and admission free of duty of articles as to which an officer or the agency designated in section 1 of this order shall make a certificate to him in the following form:

"The procurement of this material constituted an emergency purchase of war material abroad and it is accordingly requested that such material be admitted free of duty pursuant to the Act of June 30, 1914 (34 U.S.C. 568) and Executive Order No. 9177."

3. The authority herein conferred, including the authority to execute the certificate set forth in section 2 of this order, may be exercised by the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Navy, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Board of Directors of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, respectively, or in their discretion and by their direction, respectively, may be exercised also by and through any officer or officers or civilian officials of their respective departments and agency designated by them for those purposes, or, in the case of the Secretary of Agriculture by and through such corporations in the Department of Agriculture as are under the direction and supervision of the Secretary of Agriculture and in the case of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, by and through one or more of its subsidiary corporations. The Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Navy, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Board of Directors of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation may authorize such officer or officers or civilian officials of their respective departments or agency or such corporation or corporations subsidiary to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation or under the direction and supervision of the Secretary of Agriculture to make further delegations of such powers and authority within their respective departments and agency, and within such corporation or corporations.

4. This order shall become effective as of the date hereof, shall continue in force and effect until the termination of Title I of the First War Powers Act, 1941, and shall authorize or ratify any emergency purchase of war materials abroad heretofore or hereafter made by or for the account of any of the said departments, the said agency, or such corporations, and any such war material so purchased may be entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption free of duty during the effective period of this order.

5. Any provision of any Executive Order, and any provision, rule, or regulation of any officer, department, board, commission, bureau, agency or instrumentality of the Government of the United States conflicting with this order are superseded to the extent of such conflict.

FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT

The White House,
May 30, 1942.