Trump administration rolls back fuel economy standards

The Trump administration has started the process of dramatically easing fuel economy requirements for new vehicles, part of the administration's broader pivot away from cleaner cars. At the White House on Wednesday, surrounded by the executives from several major car companies, President Trump said the move would save consumers money by making cars cheaper.

"We're officially terminating Joe Biden's ridiculously burdensome, horrible, actually, CAFE standards that impose expensive restrictions," Trump said, referring to the federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy rules, often called CAFE standards. "And all sorts of problems, all sorts of problems for automakers."

Previous research from Consumer Reports has challenged the argument that regulations make cars more expensive. Stringent fuel economy standards also carry an economic benefit in the form of lower fuel costs over time.

CAFE standards require that the entire fleet of vehicles sold by a given automaker, on average, get more fuel-efficient over time. The Trump administration has already defanged the existing CAFE standards by eliminating the fines associated with them, as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

The administration has already been working to roll back tailpipe standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency, which are designed to cut pollution from vehicles. The two sets of rules have overlapping effects, with both of them pushing automakers toward cleaner vehicles.

Meanwhile, during the second Trump presidency Congress has also eliminated the consumer tax credit for purchasing electric vehicles, decided to end a tax credit for installing an EV charger in June 2026, earlier than planned, and voted to strike down federal waivers that let California require automakers to build zero-emission vehicles. The Trump administration also temporarily delayed a program to use federal money to build a high-speed EV charger network.

Trump has framed the policy rollback as a gift to the auto industry. In a statement provided by the White House, Ford CEO Jim Farley praised "President Trump's leadership in aligning fuel economy standards with market realities."