NEW YORK: The Trump administration on Monday released new fuel economy standards that relax regulatory requirements for automakers to control pollution from gasoline-powered cars and light trucks.
The new rules were released shortly after President Donald Trump rejected an Iranian proposal to open the Strait of Hormuz, sending oil prices soaring.
Fuel economy requirements set out how far new vehicles need to travel on a gallon of gasoline. The change furthers Trump's promise to revoke policies that encouraged or created incentives for the production of electric vehicles.
The Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that the finalised standards would correspond to a combined industry fleetwide average of roughly 34.9 miles per gallon for passenger cars and light trucks in the 2031 model year, down from a projected 50.4 miles per gallon in 2031 under rules put in place by the Biden administration.
“Thanks to President Trump's leadership, we have finally ended the illegal mandate that forced automakers to produce more expensive electric vehicles that American families didn't want,” Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said in a statement touting vehicle affordability, vehicle safety and investment in American auto workers.
NHTSA had projected last December that the new standards would hover at roughly 34.5 miles per gallon.
Trump wrote on his Truth Social media account Saturday that the less stringent mileage requirements would “take the waste out of building cars in America” and save families “thousands on a new, beautiful and safe car,” while boosting auto production in the US.
The state of the industry
Since taking office, Trump has pulled back auto tailpipe emissions rules, repealed fines for automakers that do not meet federal mileage standards and terminated consumer credits of up to USD 7,500 for EV purchases.
The administration and automakers have said the new rules will increase Americans' access to the full range of gasoline vehicles they need and can afford.
“NHTSA made the right call to better align fuel economy standards with the law and current market conditions,” John Bozzella, president and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents the domestic auto industry, said in a statement. “The standards finalised under the previous administration effectively required a switchover to electric vehicles that was out of step with market realities and customer demand. Today's final rule is an appropriate course correction."
“What the industry needs is long-term regulatory stability that includes balanced, durable and achievable fuel economy standards that continue to reduce emissions and improve fuel economy,” Bozzella added. “As we've said before: This is the formula for preserving consumer vehicle choice and keeping the US auto industry globally competitive.”
A spokesperson for Ford Motor Company, maker of the top-selling pickup truck, the F-150, said: “We appreciate Secretary Duffy and the Administration's work to align regulations with market realities. As we evaluate the final rule's full impact on our business, we'll continue working with the Administration to build a strong American auto industry.”
General Motors and Stellantis did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The average new car in America sold for USD 50,089 in August, crossing over the USD 50,000 line for the first time since last December, according to Kelley Blue Book data.
At the same time, Americans are spending more on gas as Washington's war with Iran disrupts the global flow of fuel. The national average price for a gallon of gas was USD 4.47 on Sunday, up from USD 4.09 a month ago, according to the AAA motor club.
Trump has repeatedly pledged to end what he falsely calls an EV “mandate,” referring incorrectly to President Joe Biden's target that half of all new vehicle sales be electric by 2030. No federal policy has mandated auto companies to sell EVs.
According to data from the automotive research group Edmunds, EVs accounted for 6.5 per cent of new vehicle sales in February, down from 7.4 per cent for all of 2025.
Environmental groups concerned over the rollback
News of the revised standards immediately drew rebukes from environmentalists.
Dan Becker, director of the Center for Biological Diversity's Safe Climate Transport Campaign, said that the final rule “ignores the feasibility of clean technology and the millions of fuel-efficient cars already on the road.”
“Trump is tanking sensible mile per gallon standards at the worst possible time for consumers, who are getting hit with sky-high prices at the pump,” Becker said in a statement. “Consumers will pay the price for these reckless rollbacks while Trump's Big Oil and Big Auto buddies reap the short-term profits.”
Katherine Garcia, director of the Sierra Club's Clean Transportation for All campaign, vowed the environmental group would fight the rule and said that the loosening of fuel standards would “make driving more expensive too.”
“Less fuel-efficient cars mean more gas burned, spending more at the pump, and dirtier air in our communities,” Garcia wrote in a statement.
When the 2024 standards went into effect, NHTSA estimated they would save 14 billion gallons of gasoline from being burned by 2050. The agency also said that while new fuel-efficient vehicles cost more up front, savings on gasoline over the lifetime of the car or truck would more than make up for that.
Without these standards, in 2035, cars could produce 22,111 more tons of carbon dioxide per year than under the Biden-era rules.
It also translates to an extra 90 tons a year of deadly soot particles and 4,870 additional tons a year of smog components such as nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds emitted into the air in coming years.
Mileage standards, known as the corporate average fuel economy, or CAFE, have been implemented since the 1970s energy crisis, and over time, automakers have gradually improved their vehicles' average efficiency.
