Americans could see car prices drop under Trump admin after its latest decision
Donald Trump hit out at a lot of Joe Biden's policies during his presidential campaign, and he is rolling back a number of initiatives that his predecessor had launched. One of the major policies that he wanted to do away with was one that made gasoline cars expensive to promote sales of electric vehicles. Trump's anti-green agenda shapes most of his policies, and that is why he is set to make cars that run on gas more affordable for Americans.
The EV push of the previous administration had been launched with the long-term goal of environmental conservation. According to a report in Axios, it required automakers to hit an average of 50 miles per gallon across their fleet by 2031. That would require a lot of EV sales, according to the report. However, President Trump has brought that down significantly to 34.5 miles per gallon. According to the White House, this would help American families save up to $1,000 on the average cost of a new car.
People are still more reliant on traditional gasoline cars than EVs, so it is not a surprise that this move was popular among the President’s supporters. Car makers hailed the move as well since they believed that the target given by the previous administration was simply not realistic. "We appreciate President Trump's leadership in aligning fuel economy standards with market realities," Ford CEO Jim Farley said.
Trump spoke about the matter in the White House, where he was joined by Farley and other automobile executives. "Today, we're taking one more step to kill the green new scam," the President said on Wednesday, before adding, "And it's a quest to end the gasoline-powered car. This is what they wanted to do. Even though we have more gasoline than any other country by far, and people want the gasoline car.”
While the President has been praised for the move, he has also been criticized by those concerned about the environment. A report in the BBC states that the previous policy aimed to reduce the public’s dependence on foreign oil, help save fuel costs, and, of course, shield the environment against pollution. The policy was expected to prevent more than 700 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.
Vehicles are the biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the US, accounting for more than 28% of the total in 2022. "This rollback would move the auto industry backwards, keeping polluting cars on our roads for years to come and threatening the health of millions of Americans, particularly children and the elderly," Sierra Club Clean Transportation for All director Katherine Garcia said. The government will face a strong pushback from environmentalists in the days to come.
More on Market Realist:
The Dell family will donate over $6 billion to fund 'Trump Accounts' for millions of kids
Elon Musk uses a strange 'panda' analogy while defending his now-defunct DOGE project
New poll reveals where voters stand on Trump’s handling of economy — and the margin isn’t close
