Weeks after the Trump administration put the Biden administration’s strengthening of fuel-economy standards in reverse, Trump’s transportation secretary defended the move as a matter of fairness to fossil fuels.
In a talk at the Washington Auto Show’s public policy day on Thursday, DOT Secretary Sean Duffy called the previous administration’s phased increase in average fuel economy rules “a backdoor way to an EV mandate.”
Changes to the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards finalized in June 2024 would have required automakers to meet a fleetwide average of 50.4 miles per gallon by the 2031 model year. The changes the DOT announced in December would lower that 2031 goal to 34.5MPG.
Speaking with John Bozzella, president and CEO of Washington-based trade group Alliance for Automotive Innovation, Duffy said the Biden requirement—which he incorrectly described as a 60MPG standard, an error he’s made before—set a goal unattainable with internal combustion engines. “The problem is, nobody can meet that,” he said, justifying a combustion-compatible rewrite of CAFE on the grounds that Congress enacted it with combustion engines in mind.
Legislators must have thought as much in 1975 when they passed the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, creating CAFE. But the text of the Energy Independence and Security Act that raised and expanded these standards in 2007 has numerous mentions of hybrid, battery-electric, and even fuel-cell vehicles.
Duffy did not mention another recent change to CAFE: the budget-reconciliation bill that last year killed off Inflation Reduction Act tax credits for EVs and other clean-energy expenses, and also reduced the fine for CAFE violations to zero, going back to 2022 model-year vehicles.
“We want fuel efficiency,” Duffy said. “That’s a great thing.”
But the US government is now leaving the value of that up to the market, as Duffy reaffirmed more than once in his roughly 45-minute conversation with Bozzella. “We think the rule is giving freedom to manufacturers to build the vehicles that people want to buy,” he said. He expects this to lead to cheaper cars, which in turn will prompt people to upgrade from older, less efficient, and less safe vehicles.
The Trump administration, however, has not been so free-market-minded in other areas of energy policy. It’s denied permits to solar and wind power-generation projects, attempted to halt construction of already-approved offshore wind projects (courts keep setting aside those stop-work orders, allowing work to resume), and is leveraging US military action in Venezuela to force the opening of that country’s oil industry to American firms.
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While allowing that he expects some customers to keep buying electric or partially electric vehicles—“I have no problem with EVs and hybrids,” he said—Duffy suggested that EVs were more of a niche product propped up by Biden-administration policies. “Northern Wisconsin, where it’s rural and cold, they don’t work so well,” he said.
Stats published by the Alliance for Automotive Innovation show that EVs made up 5.33% of car sales in Duffy’s home state from September 2024 to September 2025, the most recent 12-month period available. The nationwide EV share over that timeframe was 8.96%, which is far below EV adoption in other countries such as Norway, where, notwithstanding many rural and cold areas, that figure now stands at 96%.
China vs. the US: An Unfair Comparison?
Bozzella quizzed Duffy at some length about another country now making a sharp turn toward vehicle electrification, China. The secretary professed respect for China’s efforts; “They pay for 100 engineers compared to our five, they get this remarkable innovation, and they develop good products.” But he also said “massive” government support for Chinese EV manufacturers made this an unfair competition and raised concerns about data privacy.
Duffy criticized Canada’s recent move to allow the sale of 49,000 Chinese EVs at a tariff rate of just 6.1% instead of the current 100%, saying Canadians “will one day regret” that decision, and that other countries following similar policies would do the same. “You’ll see the world be gouged by China, and they’ll control all the manufacturing,” he said. “We can’t let that happen.”
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As DOT secretary, Duffy has to contend with much more than car engines, and the last third of the panel touched on some of his other responsibilities. He predicted that self-driving car technology could make highways more efficient through closer spacing of vehicles; voiced his enthusiasm about two other kinds of electric vehicles, drones and eVTOL air taxis; and said he looked forward to the prospect of quieter supersonic passenger flights over land.
On a more somber note, he observed that it had been almost a year since the mid-air collision over the Potomac River that killed 67 people and recalled how he had since met with so many relatives of those lost. “I think about safety all the time,” Duffy said.
Duffy’s plans for the coming year include making transportation part of celebrations of America’s 250th birthday. He said the DOT is working on one event in particular that would be “the coolest damn thing you’ve ever seen in DC,” but which will first require Congressional approval.
The secretary’s stay-tuned description: “It has something to do with cars.”
On Friday, Punchbowl News reported the details: an IndyCar race on the roads around the National Mall, which would require legislation to exempt the event from existing laws that ban advertising on the Mall. The political-news publication said Democrats were cool to the idea, both because of the wear it would put on those streets and because they’re uninterested in doing Republicans any favors.
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