US to end fuel economy credit trading in 2028 under wider standards rollback
The change was first proposed by NHTSA in December 2025 as part of a broader reset of fuel economy rules, not a new reversal
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The Trump administration will end trading of fuel economy compliance credits starting in 2028. The change was already proposed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in December 2025, as part of a wider package the agency has called the "Freedom Means Affordable Cars" standards reset, according to the Department of Transportation.
That package would also cut the fleetwide fuel economy target to about 34.5 miles per gallon by model year 2031, down from a projected 50.4 mpg under Biden-era rules, according to the Associated Press. NHTSA has described credit trading as a "windfall for EV-exclusive manufacturers that sell credits to other non-EV manufacturers," Reuters reported.
Tesla and Rivian have relied on selling those credits to automakers that cannot otherwise meet the standards, and ending the trading system could hurt both companies, according to the Institute for Energy Research, citing Reuters. NHTSA documents cited by Reuters put the industry's savings from the lower standards at $35 billion through 2031, including $8.7 billion for GM and more than $5 billion each for Ford and Stellantis. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents GM, Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen and Hyundai among others, has backed the broader rollback but specifically asked NHTSA not to eliminate credit trading, Reuters reported.
The credit trading ban tightens emissions compliance for traditional automakers by closing off a workaround, making it harder to meet standards without investment in electric vehicle technology. That sits awkwardly next to the administration's own plan to loosen the standards themselves, leaving the sector with uncertainty over which change will matter more. The net effect is bearish for legacy automakers facing higher compliance costs, and less so if the promised cuts to the standards go through as planned.