WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced he is rolling back stricter fuel economy standards set during the Biden administration as part of the current commander in chief’s effort to take on policies he believes inappropriately seek to push a shift toward electric vehicles in the U.S.

What You Need To Know

  • President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced he is rolling back stricter fuel economy standards set during the Biden administration as part of the current commander in chief’s effort to take on policies he believes inappropriately seek to push a shift toward electric vehicles in the U.S.

  • Under Trump’s proposal the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards – known as CAFE standards for short and first put in place by Congress in 1975 – would fall back to an industry fleetwide average for all light-duty vehicles of roughly 34.5 miles per gallon by 2031, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

  • That marks a notably looser standard than the approximately 50.4 miles per gallon by 2031 level set last year when Democratic former President Joe Biden was in office

  • Trump also presented the change as part of an effort to decrease costs for Americans, arguing the lower level would save an average consumer as much as $1,000 on the purchase of a new car

  • The Biden administration at the time argued that the higher requirement for fuel efficiency would save Americans money at the gas pump every time they had to fill up and save billions of gallons of gasoline

“We are officially terminating Joe Biden’s ridiculously burdensome, horrible, actually, CAFE standards that imposed expensive restrictions,” Trump declared at a White House event to announce the move. 

Under Trump’s proposal the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards – known as CAFE standards for short and first put in place by Congress in 1975 – would fall back to an industry fleetwide average for all light-duty vehicles of roughly 34.5 miles per gallon by 2031, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That marks a notably looser standard than the approximately 50.4 miles per gallon by 2031 level set last year when Democratic former President Joe Biden was in office. 

A fact sheet from the White House argued its move will return the standard to levels “that can actually be met with conventional gasoline and diesel vehicles.” It went on to assert that those imposed by the Biden administration were “unrealistic” and, in practice, “compelled widespread shifts to EVs” that raised costs for Americans.

“Since EVs are so expensive to build, automakers must sell them at a loss and make up the difference by significantly raising the sticker price of gas cars,” the sheet reads. 

Trump also presented the change as part of an effort to decrease costs for Americans, arguing the lower level would save an average consumer as much as $1,000 on the purchase of a new car. The White House said the action would save American families $109 billion in total over the next five years.

In announcing its tighter standards in 2024, however, the Biden administration argued that the higher requirement for fuel efficiency would save Americans money at the gas pump every time they had to fill up, resulting in passenger car and light truck owners paying $600 less in fuel over the lifetime of their vehicles. The administration at the time also said its standard would save almost 70 billion gallons of gasoline through 2050, preventing more than 710 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions by the same year. 

Trump was joined by his Transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, and members of Congress as well as the president of Ford, Jim Farley, and Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa in the Oval Office to make the announcement. 

Speaking at the unveiling, Farley referred to the new lower standard as the “right move” and a “victory for common sense and affordability.” He argued people should be able to “make a choice” on the type of car they want. 

“This allows us to invest in affordable vehicles made in the U.S.,” he added. 

CAFE was first enacted by Congress in 1975 with the goal of reducing energy consumption in the U.S. by increasing the fuel economy of cars and light trucks, according to the Department of Transportation. The department goes on to note that when the standards – which are set and enforced by the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration – are raised automakers “respond by creating a more fuel-efficient fleet.”

Trump –– who has long railed against moves by his Democratic predecessor as well as blue-led states that he says unjustly force EVs on the public and target gasoline-powered cars – has already taken several actions to crack down on the shift. 

Trump at the event also announced he asked Duffy to facilitate the ability for small cars similar to ones he saw on his recent trip to Asia to be produced in the U.S.