National Production Authority
American wartime production coordination agency in the Korean War
The National Production Authority (NPA) was an agency of the United States government which developed and promoted the production and supply of materials and facilities necessary for defense mobilization. It was part of the Department of Commerce.
The agency was created by Department Order 123, issued September 11, 1950, under authority of the Defense Production Act of 1950 and Executive Order 10161 (issued September 9, 1950). The organization's function was to ensure the needs of the civilian economy were adequately represented in defense mobilization efforts, and that small businesses were participating in defense contracts.
In 1951, after the escalation of the Korean War, the NPA was placed under the control of the Defense Production Administration in the Office of Defense Mobilization.
The NPA was abolished by Department Order 152, issued October 1, 1953. Its functions were dispersed among a number of successor agencies, including the Business and Defense Services Administration (1953–1970); the Bureau of Domestic Commerce (1970–1972); the Domestic and International Business Administration (1972–1977); the Industry and Trade Administration (1977–1980); and the International Trade Administration (1980–present).
References
"New Machine." Time. January 15, 1951
Pierpaoli Jr., Paul G. Truman and Korea: The Political Culture of the Early Cold War. Columbia, Mo.: University of Missouri Press, 1999.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “National Production Authority” as american wartime production coordination agency in the Korean War. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the history & society register because the source frames it as american wartime production coordination agency in the Korean War. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6975071. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1950, 1951, 1953 and 1970.
Official terminology may obscure informal participation, dissent or communities documented only indirectly. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “National Production Authority” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.