The Defense Production Act of 1950 was part of a broad civil defense and war mobilization effort granting the president the power to expand industrial production of key materials or products for national security and other reasons in the context of the Cold War. Since 1950, the Act has been reauthorized over 50 times and has been periodically amended.

Under the Act’s authority, President Harry S. Truman eventually established the Office of Defense Mobilization, instituted wage and price controls, strictly regulated production in heavy industries such as steel and mining, prioritized and allocated industrial materials in short supply, and ordered the dispersal of wartime manufacturing plants across the nation.

Source: Wikipedia