Video: Trump terminates major Biden restrictions on gas vehicles

President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that his administration is “terminating” former President Joe Biden’s “ridiculously burdensome” vehicle fuel economy standards to save $109 billion for American families over the next five years.

Announcing the termination of Biden’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards on cars during an event in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump said, “Today, my administration is taking historic action to lower costs for American consumers, protect American auto jobs, and make buying a car much more affordable for countless American families.”

The president added, “We’re officially terminating Joe Biden’s ridiculously burdensome, horrible, actually, CAFE standards that imposed expensive restrictions and all sorts of problems, gave all sorts of problems to automakers.”

Trump claimed that the Biden administration’s CAFE requirements, which would have required automakers to manufacture cars and light trucks with a fuel efficiency of roughly 50 miles per gallon by 2031, were “ridiculous” and “very expensive.” The president warned that “nobody wanted” to move forward with the fuel efficiency requirements established by the Biden administration.

“It put tremendous upward pressure on car prices, combined with the insane electric vehicle mandate,” Trump stated. “Biden’s burdensome regulations have caused the price of cars to soar more than 25%, and in one case, they went up 18% in one year.

Trump announced that his reversal of the Biden administration’s CAFE standards represents “one more step to kill the Green New Scam.”

“The greatest scam in American history, the Green New Scam,” Trump continued. “And it’s a quest to end the gasoline-powered car.”

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s website, CAFE standards were first implemented by Congress in 1975 to increase fuel economy for cars and light trucks and reduce energy consumption. CAFE standards require automakers to achieve “fleet-wide averages” to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In a fact sheet released on Wednesday, the White House explained that if Trump had not taken steps to reverse the Biden administration’s CAFE standards, the average cost of a new car would have increased by nearly $1,000 compared to the standards unveiled by the Trump administration. The White House added that the new standards will save $109 billion for American families over the next five years.

“As America’s largest auto producer, we appreciate President Trump’s leadership in aligning fuel economy standards with market realities,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said prior to Wednesday’s announcement. “We can make real progress on carbon emissions and energy efficiency while still giving customers choice and affordability. This is a win for customers and common sense.”