President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a major rollback of federal fuel efficiency regulations enacted under the Biden administration, saying the move will save American families an estimated $109 billion.
“We’re officially terminating Joe Biden’s ridiculously burdensome, horrible, actually, CAFE standards that imposed expensive restrictions and all sorts of problems,” Trump said during the Oval Office event, according to FOX Business.
“Biden’s burdensome regulations have caused the price of cars to soar more than 25%, and in one case, they went up 18% in one year.”
The announcement included the presence of top automotive executives, including Ford CEO Jim Farley, Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa, and a GM plant manager. Ahead of the event, Farley praised the reset, calling it “a win for customers and common sense.”
He added that the move aligns fuel economy standards with market realities while allowing automakers to continue progress on emissions and energy efficiency.
Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, first introduced in 1975, set government-mandated fuel efficiency targets for vehicle fleets.
Trump had previously rolled back stricter standards during his first term, while the Biden administration increased them by 8% for 2024 and 2025 models, and 10% for 2026. Critics argued the Biden-era rules would force consumers toward electric vehicles and significantly increase car prices.
“Today, we’re taking one more step to kill the Green New Scam,” Trump said, referring to Biden-era environmental policies he described as a campaign against gasoline-powered cars. “People want the gasoline car. They want everything. They want electric. They want to have lots of alternatives.”
The White House said the Biden regulations would have added nearly $1,000 to the average price of a new car, while the Trump-era reset preserves affordability. Filosa echoed support for the administration, noting that Stellantis looks forward to policies that “allow us to offer our customers the freedom to choose the vehicles they want at prices they can afford.”
GM also praised the alignment with market realities, saying it supports “one national standard that upholds customer choice and provides the auto industry long-term stability.”
The rollback builds on Trump’s broader regulatory agenda, including measures earlier this year that ended California’s electric vehicle mandate, preventing the state from phasing out gasoline-only vehicles by 2035.
Civil penalties for violating CAFE standards under Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act have also been reduced to zero, shielding automakers from costly fines.
This latest move signals Trump’s continued focus on lowering vehicle costs and limiting federal regulations on the auto industry while offering drivers more options in both gas and electric vehicles.
