Automakers tell Trump deregulatory efforts could lead to instability, lower profits

Cars on a Los Angeles freeway. — (Image credit: David McNew/Newsmakers)

Ford, General Motors, Toyota, and 14 other automakers sent President Trump a letter on Thursday, telling him if he goes through with his plan to roll back Obama-era pollution regulations, it could lower their profits and cause an "extended period of litigation and instability," The New York Times reports.

The Trump administration is expected to announce this summer that it is eliminating most of Obama's auto pollution regulations, including an ambitious plan to increase mileage standards to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. California and other states have said they will sue and still enact their own stricter rules, and in their letter, the automakers told Trump they "strongly believe the best path to preserve good auto jobs and keep new vehicles affordable for more Americans is a final rule supported by all parties — including California."

The automakers do not want to have to manufacture cars for two different U.S. markets, and they also sent a letter to California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), telling him they would like to see something "midway" between Obama's rules and Trump's proposal. "Our thinking is, the rule is still being finalized, there is still time to develop a final rule that is good for consumers, policymakers, and automakers," Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers Vice President Gloria Bergquist told the Times.

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Early in the Trump administration, several executives in Detroit asked Trump to ease some of the regulations, but did not expect him to go as far as he did, the Times reports.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.