Trump administration rolls back US fuel economy standards to 2014 levels
The US Department of Transportation has issued new CAFE fuel economy standards averaging just 34.9 mpg, effectively reverting requirements to 2014 levels. Critics warn the move will raise transportation costs for American families as fuel prices climb.
The Trump administration has finalized new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for passenger vehicles, setting requirements at an average of 34.9 miles per gallon — a figure that effectively rolls back progress to levels last seen around 2014.
A history of reversals
In 2012, the Obama administration had set a path toward 54 mpg by 2025, a target never reached. The first Trump administration cut those standards in 2020, lowering the model year 2026 target from 46.7 mpg to 40.4 mpg. The Biden administration later worked to reverse some of that damage, introducing rules that encouraged automakers to build smaller, lighter vehicles. The newly finalized standards now move policy backward again.
One notable exception
The new rule does include a change viewed more favorably: a tightening of the so-called light truck loophole. Passenger cars and light trucks — including many SUVs and crossovers — have long been classified separately under CAFE, with weaker requirements applied to light trucks. This gap incentivized automakers to design crossovers that could qualify as light trucks, contributing to a fleet of bigger, thirstier vehicles on US roads. Should the rule remain in effect through model year 2030, classification criteria will change to more accurately reflect each vehicle's actual use, shifting the current fleet mix of roughly 70 percent light trucks and 30 percent passenger cars to about 70 percent passenger cars and 30 percent light trucks.
Criticism
Albert Gore, executive director of the Zero Emissions Transportation Association, said the CAFE program was originally created in the 1970s in response to fuel price shocks that raised costs for Americans. He warned that lowering standards now, as many families already struggle with rising transportation costs, will only add to that burden, and that reducing the bar for innovation risks leaving the American auto industry behind in the global market.
