To Retain Control and Fuck with our Industry
There is an active effort to convince President-elect Trump to retain President Biden’s tailpipe rules and continue EV mandates according to new reporting.
Why this matters: Repealing the Biden-Harris tailpipe policy was a key issue in the 2024 election that helped President-elect Trump win in November. Some automotive special interest groups are now trying to push President Trump away from the will of American voters. Keeping the Biden-Harris tailpipe rules will shatter a campaign promise to halt current mandates, ending our choice of new vehicles.
The Big Picture
SEMA’s SuperPAC ‘Driving Force Action’ was a major player in battleground states across the country, centering the EV mandates as a key issue.
SEMA sent a letter to President-elect Trump informing him of our support for his campaign pledge and commitment to countering DC special interests.
SEMA stands ready to mobilize hundreds of thousands of auto enthusiasts to protect American consumers and small businesses.
SEMA Responds: Read our letter to President-elect Trump.
November 25, 2024
President-elect Donald J. Trump
The Mar-a-Lago Club
1100 South Ocean Boulevard
Palm Beach, FL 33480
Dear President-elect Trump,
On behalf of the Specialty Equipment Market Association and its more than
7,500 members in the automotive aftermarket industry, as well as the
nation’s millions of automotive enthusiasts, we wish to again congratulate
you on your re-election. Your return to the White House has given significant
hope to our industry that your incoming Administration will deliver much
needed regulatory relief and support for small businesses, of which many of
SEMA’s members are.
The specialty automotive aftermarket industry that SEMA represents
manufactures, distributes, and retails specialty parts and accessories for
motor vehicles. The industry supports over 1.3 million jobs across the U.S.
and contributes nearly $337 billion to the American economy each year
through the production, sale, and installation of performance, functional,
restoration, and styling-enhancement products for use on passenger cars,
trucks, SUVs, and special interest collector vehicles. The majority of such
manufacturing is conducted in the U.S., making the specialty automotive
aftermarket a true asset to the nation’s economy, and a reminder of
America’s manufacturing prowess and ingenuity.
Throughout the campaign, you expressed an unwavering belief in the harm
that electric vehicle mandates would have on our nation’s economy. SEMA
thanks you for championing technology-neutral policies that are critical to
providing a bright future for U.S. consumers and thousands of specialty
automotive aftermarket businesses.
For thousands of businesses in the specialty automotive aftermarket, de
facto electric vehicle mandates through California’s Advanced Clean Cars II
regulation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s multipollutant
standards for light- and medium-duty vehicles for Model Years 2027 through
2032 pose an existential crisis that would shutter businesses and put too
many Americans out of work. Roughly 33% of the businesses SEMA
represents make products specifically for internal combustion engine (ICE)
engines. If the current EV mandates (or otherwise put, ICE bans) are allowed
to remain in place, this puts over $100 million of economic impact to the U.S.
economy and over 300,000 American automotive jobs at risk.
Simply put, it is time to turn the page on these disastrous policies that limit
consumer choice, destroy jobs, threaten small businesses, and reduce
federal and state revenues.
It is disheartening to hear that some within the automotive industry are
seeking to largely keep the Biden Administration’s tailpipe rules in place. On
behalf of SEMA’s members, we support your stated goal of a “Day 1” end to
EV mandates. As you are well aware, such mandates stifle the innovation and
ingenuity that makes our nation great.
EV mandates are the antithesis to what drives America. Whether these
mandates arrive in the form of tailpipe emissions standards that can only be
achieved through the sale of EVs or waivers that enable some states to
impose their own standards on other states (as is the case of California’s
standards that as many as 16 states can adopt), they all destroy consumers’
freedom to choose what vehicles they want – or need – to drive. While EVs
are a part of the solution for reducing carbon emissions for mobile sources,
mandates rob our nation’s innovators of the opportunity to develop new
technologies and solutions that meaningfully reduce emissions in a way that
doesn’t hurt consumers and small automotive businesses. They harm our
economy, threaten to stifle interstate commerce, and place millions of jobs
at risk.
SEMA stands ready to support your efforts to deliver the change you’ve
promised. Please consider SEMA and our members as a resource to your
Administration to ensure that our nation remains prosperous and free.
Sincerely,
Mike Spagnola
President and CEO
SEMA
I’m checking my tea leaves for a sign someone, some leader or maybe the CO2 Coalition will force a reckoning regarding Climate Doom. It’s time the chips fell and the truth shines. It’s time to let kids know they are living in the best of times, not the worst.
–Bandit
