Trump Resets Fuel Standards, Delivering Major Savings and Common Sense for American Drivers
This week, President Trump announced a major course correction, officially ending the Biden administration’s aggressive Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. The regulations, the auto industry said, were unaffordable and intended to push drivers into electric vehicles they don’t want.
Fox Business reports,
“Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE standards, first enacted in 1975, are government regulations for the average fuel efficiency of a vehicle fleet that aim to lower emissions.
Trump rolled back aggressive standards put forth by the Obama administration under his first term in office, with Biden subsequently resetting and tightening the CAFE standards under his administration.
The Biden administration, for example, boosted fuel efficiency requirements by 8% for 2024 and 2025 model years and 10% for 2026, which was far higher than Trump’s 1.5% that was finalized under his first term and applied to car model years 2021–2026. The Trump White House argued that the aggressive standards set under the Biden-era were not feasible to meet with available technologies for gas cars, and that the standards would have compelled consumers to shift to electric vehicles.”
The White House announced the reset will save American families $109 billion. For millions of drivers already dealing with higher car prices, that relief can’t come soon enough.
“Joe Biden’s ridiculously burdensome CAFE standards imposed expensive restrictions and all sorts of problems,” Trump said during the event. “They put tremendous upward pressure on car prices—some models jumped 18% in a single year.”
President Trump is setting realistic standards that match market realities and respect American drivers’ choices. As Trump pointed out, “People want the gasoline car. They want electric. They want alternatives. But they do want the gasoline car.”
The move is part of a broader reversal of Biden-era energy mandates. Since returning to office, Trump has:
- Ended California’s plan to ban gas-powered car sales by 2035.
- Reversed the Biden-EPA’s waiver enabling California to impose electric-truck mandates.
- Eliminated civil penalties for CAFE violations under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act—protecting automakers from crushing fines.
With this fuel-standards reset, the Trump administration is once again prioritizing affordability, reliability, and American energy. For millions of drivers, workers, and manufacturers, a little common sense has returned to the road.
December 5, 2025