Since taking office in January, U.S. President Donald Trump has signed a multitude of executive orders – many of which are aimed at undoing actions that his predecessor, Joe Biden, took over the course of his four years in office. Many of these policy reversals pertain to emissions standards and massive investments in electric vehicles and related infrastructure, and now, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a new plan to continue that process.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has announced that the agency will reconsider regulations and emissions standards that were set under the Biden Administration for light-, medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, which were slated to begin taking effect with the 2027 model year, moves it says will help reduce costs for shoppers. “The American auto industry has been hamstrung by the crushing regulatory regime of the last administration. As we reconsider nearly one trillion dollars of regulatory costs, we will abide by the rule of law to protect consumer choice and the environment,” Zeldin said.
Back in August 2021, Biden signed a non-legally binding executive order that aspires to achieve a 50 percent EV mix in new vehicle sales by 2030, which includes battery-electric, plug-in hybrid, and fuel cell-powered vehicles. Additionally, the executive order proposes new vehicle emissions rules that aim to both increase fuel economy standards and slash emissions by 3.7 percent between 2023 and 2026 – all of which are moves that Ford supported at the time.
Shortly after taking office, Trump signed an executive order of his own that reversed many of these changes, including the proposed EV sales mix goal, and put a halt to distributing unspent funds from vehicle charging stations – the latter of which a Ford-backed group recently asked the President to reconsider. Shortly thereafter, Trump nixed Biden’s vehicle fuel economy averages that were set to increase two percent each year for 2027-2031 model year passenger cars, as well as light trucks built in the 2029-2031 model years.
Comments
The song “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead” came to mind while reading this article.
The one policy of Trump’s that I agree 100% with. Joe blew this one, big time.
Good. As a 30 YO car enthusiast.
Good, but I have no idea how manufacturers are going to deal with this. How do you do long term planning when you don’t know if the next administration will go right back to he previous standards.
This is going to backfire going forward. China is poised to take over the automotive world and they are heavily invested in EVs and the rest of the world is steadily marching toward electrification even if they’ve hit a speed bump. No amount of tariffs, eliminating Biden era rules or “bringing jobs home” is going to save the domestic industry as the world shifts. US consumers can’t afford new vehicles now (repossessions are off the chart) so trying to shift manufacturing to the US is only going to exasperate the issue plus it’s going to put the domestic industry way behind in terms of technology. Especially when it comes to affordable EVs.
Bruce and the Kakistocracy should have taken a more nuanced approach. Revises emissions rules and still plan out and implement EV infrastructure and encourage EV research and development.
Spot on. I would snap up a new BYD if they were available to purchase. The Chinese will own the entire market in time.
Not if there are 100 percent tariffs or quotas.
“Big Three” have an expiry date, nothing you can do to stop it.