Trump Announces He’s Cancelling Biden’s Fuel Efficiency Standards For Cars
President Donald Trump on Wednesday slashed car fuel efficiency standards put in place by ex-President Joe Biden, saying the “burdensome” regulations were “anti-economy” and would have hurt both American auto companies and consumers.
“They were horrible,” Trump said at the White House. “What [the standards] were doing to the cost and actually making the car much worse. But these policies forced automakers to build cars using expensive technologies that drove up costs and prices and made the car much worse.”
The Biden-issued standards, ABC News reported, mandated an increase in fuel efficiency each year between 2027 and 2031, which would have brought the average vehicle up to 50.4 miles per gallon. Trump’s relaxed standards would bring that down to 34.5 miles per gallon by 2031.
Fox News reported Trump had fuel efficiency requirements increasing at 1.5% during his first term, while Biden boosted those to 8% for new models in 2024 and 10% in 2026.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which enforces the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards that were enacted in 1975, is revising its increase down to between 0.25% and 0.50% for cars in the years ahead.
Trump said rolling back the rules will “save the typical consumer at least $1,000” off the price of new cars; he also said auto companies like General Motors and Ford will now be able to invest billions of dollars into their businesses, rather than spend on getting cars to meet the Biden-issued standards.
Trump’s White House said the canceled standards are expected to save Americans up to $109 billion.
American car makers cheered the move on Wednesday.
“GM supports the goals of NHTSA’s proposed CAFE rule and its intention to better align fuel economy standards with market realities,” a GM spokesperson told Fox News.
Ford CEO Jim Farley, before the meeting, said Trump’s move was a “win for customers and common sense.” And Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa said his company “appreciates” the rollback.
GM’s stock increased 1% on Wednesday, while Ford’s increased 1.40% and Stellantis saw its shares jump 4.66%.
In other news from Wednesday’s news conference, Trump and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy could barely contain themselves from laughing at Pete Buttigieg’s name.
Watch part of Trump’s comments above, via Fox News.
