President Trump rolls into office and by executive order rescinds the Biden era tax incentives on electric vehicles and the whole of America sounds a sigh of relief, that despite no mandate yet on electric vehicles, one will never get there as now we are headed in the right direction by his leadership. To further entice Americans into believing we are going in the right direction getting rid of all these green agenda mandates concerning vehicles, Sean Duffy, the new head of the Department of Transportation comes out and ordered the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to re-evaluate Biden-era rules designed to make cars more fuel-efficient with a headline that he gave a gut punch to the auto industry, assumingly as you read the article, regarding electric vehicles because new regulations put on gasoline fueled engines would put the US automakers out of business because they would be to expensive if not all out possible to ascertain. That if Americans wanted electric vehicles at $60,000 a pop they'd be out buying them.
Implemented in June 2024, the NHTSA under the Biden Administration set up the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. Under these rules, automakers were tasked with increasing the fleetwide average fuel economy of passenger cars by 2% per year between model years 2027-2031, while the fuel economy of light trucks will need to be improved by 2% per year between model years 2029-2031.
These regulations were intended to cut greenhouse gases to help mitigate climate change and to help drivers get into more fuel-efficient cars. The DOT at the time aimed for the average car to achieve a fuel economy of about 50.4 miles per gallon by the 2031 model year.
However, Duffy and the current administration contrasts.
Using two of Trump's executive orders (EO 14148 "Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions," and EO 14154 "Unleashing American Energy") and an appeal to the average consumer as his foil, the new DOT Secretary argued that not only are the lofty, Biden-era fuel economy standards impossible for automakers to meet, but they would force drivers out of internal-combustion engined (ICE) cars they want to drive and afford.
"Artificially high fuel economy standards designed to meet non-statutory policy goals, [...] impose large costs that render many new vehicle models unaffordable for the average American family and small business owner," Duffy said. "They also put coercive pressure on automakers to phase out of production various models of popular ICE vehicles and reengineer their fleets in a way that reduces dramatically the power and durability of the ICE models they are able to offer, thereby fundamentally distorting the market and destroying consumer choice at the dealership."
Additionally, he argued that such regulations would "also inevitably kill thousands of jobs for America's autoworkers" and relegate Americans "to driving older and older used vehicles," which he sees as "an unacceptable outcome that is contrary to [the] NHTSA's mission of advancing highway traffic safety."
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Previously, Duffy labeled Biden’s EV-heavy climate plans as “an agenda of control.” Additionally, in an on-air segment in 2023, he referred to Biden-era rules regarding EV adoption as “the dumbest policy,” adding, "If Americans wanted electric vehicles—$60,000 a pop—they’d buy electric vehicles.”
Far be it for me to question why an administration would put regulations on vehicle standards that are impossible to near impossible to reach unless the goal was to make it appear they deliberately were aiming to take new gasoline fueled engines off the roads by forcing US manufacturers of them to transition to EV engines or go out of business. Between Trump and Duffy's actions, you could nearly hear a huge sigh of relief rolling across the country. Except for one thing.
While people are in their celebratory mode they don't stop to think about the tariffs that Trump is going to put on Mexico and Canada on February 1, 2025 of twenty five percent tariffs of everything imported into this country, and ten percent on goods coming from China. For those who may have stopped to think about this and how it relates to the auto industry here may have gotten a clue, but for many people who haven't it's going to hit them like a ton of bricks. In 2023, the Cato Institute said Canada and Mexico accounted for nearly $120 billion worth of U.S. motor vehicle imports, which totaled about 47% of all such vehicles imported that year. That's just the imported vehicles, but they also make nearly the same percentage of US auto manufacturers parts. Can you imagine a twenty five percent mark up on nearly every single car part coming into the US from Mexico and Canada and if pushed off onto the buyer to recoup the cost how expensive gasoline fueled engines are going to cost.
That's how Trump makes it look like he's done people a huge favor when in fact he has not. The same seen with his trade deals he signed right before leaving office. Back then he gave the example of the poor soybean farmers and how his trade deals were going to help them out. This time its I am going to save you from electric vehicles without ever mentioning how, same as with the rise in demand upon our food contributed to inflation, his tariffs are going to have the same effect Biden did by forcing US manufacturers out of business as people start eyeing EV's due to the high cost associated with Trump tariffs that skyrocketed the price above what an EV cost. You know there's some reality in this because he strips the incentive programs to buy EV's signed under Biden, he strips away the regulatory requirements but one thing he doesn't strip away is the money set aside in the inflation reduction act that is funding the infrastructure across the nation for mass adoption of EV's, the EV charging stations that are popping up everywhere in gas stations. Think of the incredible amount that could be saved in his quest to cut government cost flowing out the door for this green energy development. Not that people shouldn't be stopping themselves to ask, exactly why are taxpayers footing the bill to put in infrastructure for private businesses to begin with. Elon Musk, for example, is so rich, he can certainly afford to pay for his own infrastructure like any other capitalist on the face of the planet.
People had better get ready to grip themselves for many parts of the region who depend on Canadian crude for their gasoline supplies, they could be looking at being up to four dollars a gallon of gas or more within the coming week or so, coupling that projected increase of fifty cents a gallon due to the tariff combined with the spring rise of the cost of gas. It doesn't end there either. Beer, clothes, household items, building materials, and imports of vegetables and fruits rising twenty five percent. Anything coming out of Canada and Mexico. Be ready for sticker shock considering all the imaginable ways those tariffs are going to rise your cost once you intertwine all the cost manufacturers are dependent upon from imports to keep their operations functioning. Don't look at the domestic supply to save you, it will increase demand even further than the demand that came with Trump's trade agreements that saw a 386% percent increase of US beef exports going to China, 79% increase of our potatoes to Japan, and our eggs flying out of this country, with Americans now paying five dollars or more for a carton of eggs, you'd think they'd halt the export of eggs to help Americans out, but it was never about making Americans great again, it was about making America great again, and it's going to cost you while the government reaps the rewards.