Trump rolls again Biden-era gas effectivity requirements for automobiles

President Donald Trump announced that he was rolling back fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks set by the Biden administration during an event at the White House on Dec. 3, making it easier for automakers to sell gas-powered vehicles.

Signed into law in 1975, the Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE, standards regulate how far vehicles must travel on a gallon of fuel. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is expected to propose reducing the fuel economy requirements from model years 2022 to 2031, a move that will save Americans $109 billion, a White House official told USA TODAY.

“Today, my administration is taking historic action to lower costs for American consumers, protect American auto jobs and make buying a car much more affordable for countless American families. And also safer,” said Trump from the Oval Office.

“It put tremendous upward pressure on car prices, combined with the insane electric vehicle mandates,” he said.

“Joe Biden‘s fuel efficiency regulations would have raised the cost of a new vehicle by $1,000,” the White House said in a post on X . “PRESIDENT TRUMP IS HITTING RESET- saving Americans $109 BILLION!”

The Biden standards would have compelled widespread shifts to electric vehicles that American consumers did not ask for, accompanied by significant cost-of-living increases, the official said.

Executives from the three largest automakers, Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis (parent company of Chrysler), were at the White House for the announcement.

What were the Biden administration’s fuel economy standards?

In 2022, the Biden administration announced new standards that required an industry-wide fleet average of approximately 49 mpg for passenger cars and light trucks in model year 2026.

The new standards, the Department of Transportation said in 2022, would increase fuel efficiency by 8% annually for model years 2024-2025 and 10% annually for model year 2026. That would also have increased the estimated fleetwide average by nearly 10 mpg for model year 2026, compared to model year 2021.

In June 2024, the Biden administration announced that fuel economy would increase 2% per year for model years 2027-2031 for passenger cars, while light trucks would increase 2% per year for model years 2029-2031. The increases would have brought fuel economy up to approximately 50.4 mpg by model year 2031. That would have saved passenger car and light truck owners more than $600 in fuel over the lifetime of their vehicles, the Biden administration said.