President Donald Trump said he approved new fuel-economy standards, claiming they would lower car prices and boost U.S. manufacturing. No final rule or details were released, and it was unclear whether Sean Duffy’s Monday announcement would cover the same changes.
Trump did not say when the standards would take effect or whether they match an earlier National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposal. That proposal projected a fleetwide average of about 34.5 miles per gallon by 2031, compared with about 50.4 mpg under Biden-era standards.
For the earlier proposal, NHTSA estimated an average new-vehicle upfront cost reduction of about $930. It also projected roughly 100 billion additional gallons of fuel use through 2050, $185 billion in added fuel spending and a 5% rise in carbon dioxide emissions. Biden-era rules encouraged fuel-efficient and electric vehicles but did not require consumers to buy EVs, despite Trump and allies describing them as an EV mandate.
