President Donald Trump has approved a major rollback of Biden-era vehicle fuel economy standards, effectively dismantling policies designed to push the auto industry toward electric vehicles (EVs).
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Breitbart reports that The U.S. Department of Transportation is scheduled to finalize the new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulations sometime today.
The rollback lowers the fuel-efficiency trajectory for passenger cars and light trucks through the 2031 model year from a fleetwide industry average of 50.4 miles per gallon (mpg), to roughly 34.5 mpg.
🇺🇸 Trump says he signed new mileage rules and killed the EV mandate.
CAFE measures a company’s average fuel economy.
Biden’s rules pushed toward roughly 50 mpg by 2031.
Trump’s version drops that to about 34–35 mpg and removes EVs as extra credit.
A gas-heavy lineup can now… pic.twitter.com/3AMKXGeJV0
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) September 26, 2026
In a September 26 post on social media, Trump said the lower benchmarks will “take the waste out of building cars in America” and protect manufacturing jobs.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called the upcoming finalization “a major victory for America’s auto workers.”
The latest action follows the administration’s prior steps to eliminate consumer EV tax credits, remove automaker penalties for failing to meet mileage goals, and relax tailpipe emission rules.
The administration claims the policy will return roughly $109 billion to American buyers and reduce the upfront cost of a new vehicle by approximately $1,000.
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Opponents, including former Biden administration officials, contend that lowering the standards surrenders the clean-technology market to global competitors like China.
Under the Biden administration, previous reductions in CAFE standards implemented during Trump’s first term were rescinded and stricter requirements implemented to push the American auto industry toward EVs.
Trump had pledged during his 2024 campaign that he would rescind policies that encouraged or incentivized electric vehicles.
The new rules do not ban or mandate specific vehicle types, but the lower targets give automakers significantly more flexibility to produce and sell highly profitable, gasoline-powered SUVs and pickup trucks.
Analysts say less restrictive CAFE standards give consumers more choice and automakers more profit.
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