Trump rolls back car fuel efficiency standards

The Trump administration has rolled back car fuel efficiency standards requiring automakers to ensure their products were using less fuel.

While the Biden-era standards would have been expected to get the nation’s car fleet to average 50.4 miles per gallon by 2031, the Trump administration on Monday brought that number down to 34.9 miles per gallon.

The administration argued that this would make cars cheaper, though opponents of the move point out that car owners could spend more on gasoline as a result. The change could also lead to more pollution and worsen climate change.

The Trump administration says that the move will make new cars $1,300 cheaper on average.

The Biden administration said its change, which would have increased fuel economy requirements by 2 percent per year for model years 2027 through 2031, would have saved drivers more than $600 in fuel costs over the lifetime of a vehicle.

President Trump touted the change in a Truth Social post over the weekend.

“BIG DAY FOR AMERICAN AUTO WORKERS AND CAR BUYERS! I have just approved new Fuel Economy Standards that TERMINATE Sleepy Joe Biden and Pete Boot-EDGE-EDGE’s ridiculous EV Mandate,” he wrote.

“The Dumocrats cost our Great Auto Manufacturers $Billions, forced Americans into cars they never wanted, and wasted Billions on Chargers that were never built,” he added.

The move comes after the standards were made toothless in the president’s Big Beautiful Bill as a provision in that law made the penalties for not meeting the standards down to $0.

However, now that the proposal is finalized, automakers will not legally have to abide by them, even if the law would have prevented them from being punished for not complying.