President-elect Donald Trump upon taking office will issue an executive order ending what he has called an electric vehicle mandate but will not immediately move to impose new tariffs on imported goods as some believed he might.
An incoming White House official who briefed members of the media on Monday morning said Trump is expected to sign a series of executive orders related to the economy, including those expected to cut regulations to increase energy production, open Alaska up to additional energy production and declare a national energy emergency. He is also expected to sign a memorandum ordering all of his administration to look at how best to bring down consumer prices to fight inflation.
As part of those executive orders, the White House official, who spoke on background, said Trump will end the “EV mandate,” though it was not immediately clear what that might entail.
Trump is set to be sworn into office on Monday at noon.
Last spring, the Biden administration finalized emission rules for cars and light duty trucks that, in theory, would require two-thirds of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. by 2032 to be zero emission and electric vehicles or EVs are currently the only vehicle technology that meets that standard. Trump and other Republicans claimed it amounted to an “EV mandate,” which was largely unpopular in Michigan and other states.
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will probably have to propose new rules and go through a lengthy process to rewrite them first.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported exclusively that while Trump has argued for imposing stiff tariffs on imported goods — including those from allies including Canada and Mexico, as well as from rivals like China — he does not plan to do so on his first day in office, instead issuing a memorandum ordering his administration to review the nation’s trade deficits and policies.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer specifically detailed the threat tariffs and any actions Trump might take to hurt EV sales pose to Michigan’s auto industry.
Those orders will include Trump’s declaring a national emergency at the border and call on using the military to “repel forms of invasion” at the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump is also expected to suspend resettlement of refugees, resume construction of a border wall, bar entry of people from “countries of concern” and attempt to end the 14th Amendment’s right to U.S. citizenship for children born to immigrants in the country.
Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler.
This story has been updated with new information.
