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‘Buy American!’: Trump Announces ‘More Affordable’ Car Rule; Hits Obama, ‘Politically Correct’ Companies

   DailyWire.com
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a Coronavirus Task Force news conference at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, March 31, 2020.Trump warned Americans that it's "going to be a painful two weeks" and the virus was the worst thing the country had ever seen as the disease continued to spread around the country. Photographer: Chris Kleponis/Polaris/Bloomberg
Chris Kleponis/Polaris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Like all of social media, President Trump’s Twitter feed has been dominated by coronavirus-related posts, but on Tuesday he took a moment to announce some “great news” about his administration’s new automobile rule, which eases up on Obama-era emissions standards and which Trump says will offer Americans the chance to buy American-made vehicles that are both “safer” and “more affordable.”

“Great news! American families will now be able to buy safer, more affordable, and environmentally friendly cars with our new SAFE VEHICLES RULE,” Trump tweeted Tuesday (tweets below). “Get rid of those old, unsafe clunkers. Build better and safer American cars and create American jobs. Buy American!”

While the Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule relaxes some of the “impossible to satisfy” emissions standards set by the Obama administration, the president wrote, his revised emissions rule will have a “positive impact on the environment.”

“My Administration is helping U.S. auto workers by replacing the failed Obama Emissions Rule. Impossible to satisfy its Green New Deal Standard; Lots of unnecessary and expensive penalties to car buyers!” he wrote.

In a follow-up post, the president took a swipe at “politically correct” car companies and “foolish executives” who might push back on the new standards. “My proposal to the politically correct Automobile Companies would lower the average price of a car to consumers by more than $3500, while at the same time making the cars substantially safer. Engines would run smoother. Positive impact on the environment! Foolish executives!” Trump tweeted.

As outlined by NPR, the SAFE Vehicles Rule will increase carbon dioxide emissions standards for the nation’s automakers by 1.5% a year — rather than the 5% required by the Obama-era policy — through model-year 2026.

“Following a request from the auto industry, the Trump administration originally proposed freezing the standards altogether without any increase,” NPR notes. “It modified the rule after pushback from not only environmental groups, but also some of those same automakers, who worried that a drastic change would put them out of step with a global marketplace increasingly geared toward lower-emission cars and trucks.”

In a statement Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao echoed Trump’s “safer” and environmentally friendly comments. “By making newer, safer, and cleaner vehicles more accessible for American families, more lives will be saved and more jobs will be created,” said Chao, as reported by NPR.

Environmental Protection Agency administrator Andrew Wheeler described the new policy as helping “correct” the Obama-imposed standards, which he suggested were unreasonable. The new rule “strikes the right regulatory balance that protects our environment, and sets reasonable targets for the auto industry,” he said.

On Tuesday, Trump also highlighted what he presented as another one of his proposals that he says could be positive for the country amid the ongoing, economy-crippling crisis. “With interest rates for the United States being at ZERO, this is the time to do our decades long awaited Infrastructure Bill,” he wrote. “It should be VERY BIG & BOLD, Two Trillion Dollars, and be focused solely on jobs and rebuilding the once great infrastructure of our Country! Phase 4[.]”

 

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