This week, President Trump announced a major rewrite of the federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. The proposal rolls back the fuel-economy targets established during the previous administration, targets that automakers argued could not be met without a rapid shift toward electric vehicles. The administration framed the change as a return to the original purpose of CAFÉ, focusing on fuel efficiency, rather than forced electrification.
The move fits into a broader regulatory shift. Earlier this year, lawmakers revoked California’s EPA waiver, which allowed the state to impose stricter emissions rules and effectively push zero-emission vehicle mandates. That waiver had become one of the most powerful national drivers of EV adoption, as many other states follow California’s standards. Removing it, combined with the newly proposed CAFE reset, amounts to a coordinated effort to ease regulatory pressure that had been steering manufacturers away from internal-combustion engines.
For the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF), this moment is significant. While the proposal directly affects cars and trucks, rules of this kind are frequently expanded over time to include motorcycles, making this development especially relevant to the riding community. For the MRF, preservation of the internal-combustion engine is a core legislative priority, and the proposed standards may help maintain space in the marketplace for ICE technology. By lowering regulatory pressure on automakers, these changes could strengthen consumer access to gas-powered vehicles and slow the trend toward policy-driven electrification. For riders, that translates into a greater likelihood that motorcycles powered by traditional engines remain affordable, viable, and widely available.
While the proposal will face public comment and probable legal challenges, the shift signals a meaningful change in federal regulatory direction. For motorcyclists who value mechanical choice and the performance characteristics of internal-combustion engines, the administration’s actions may mark a favorable step toward preserving the freedom to choose how they ride.
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