TRUMP KILLS EV MANDATES, SEMA EXPRESSES GRATITUDE

TRUMP KILLS EV MANDATES, SEMA EXPRESSES GRATITUDE

WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 12, 2025) - The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) is expressing its profound thanks to President Donald Trump, who today signed a Congressional Review Act resolution that will protect more than 330,000 American jobs and preserve $100 billion in annual economic impact for the nation's economy by revoking a waiver that would have enabled California to ban internal combustion engine vehicles.

President Trump, who invited SEMA to join him at the White House for the signing ceremony, now has delivered on a key campaign promise in which he pledged to preserve vehicle choice for millions of Americans to decide which car or truck is right for them. In doing so, President Trump has provided a significant firewall for the nation's automotive aftermarket, a third of whom manufacture and sell products solely for internal combustion engine vehicles.

"President Trump meant what his said when he declared his intent to stop radical policymakers from depriving the American people of vehicle choice. He's proven to be a man of his word and a true champion of American innovation and ingenuity, particularly of that borne out of the automotive aftermarket industry," said SEMA President and CEO Mike Spagnola, who was present for the signing ceremony. "This is a clear example of American government at its finest, where a bipartisan set of lawmakers set aside their differences for the sake of the American people - in this case, to strike down a bad, ill-conceived policy from California that would've shattered the nation's economy and destabilized the automotive marketplace."

BACKGROUND

SEMA is not, and never will be, anti-EV; rather, it champions a technology-neutral approach that fosters innovation and ingenuity. The association will continue efforts to preserve Americans' rights to vehicle choice and the automotive aftermarket industry's ability to design, manufacture, and bring to market products that help solve the emissions challenge. 

Beginning in 2023, SEMA led a national effort to educate voters and lawmakers on the damage of EV mandates on families, the working class, and American small businesses. In February, when the effort to overturn the California waiver kicked into high gear, SEMA mobilized an army of advocates to: 

• Send more than 56,000 letters to lawmakers in the House and Senate 
• Build a coalition of 335 small businessesfor an April letterurging House and Senate leadership to hold votes to put an immediate stop to the implementation of the ACC II regulation 
• Host aftermarket business leaders and automotive influencers for 56 in-person meetings in Washington, D.C., with lawmakers and their staffs 
• Dominate the digital media landscape with countless memes and posts on the harms of EV mandates, reaching more than 2 million votersin key states, and running online ads that put pressure on lawmakers and staff around the Capitol  

Along the way, states not named California got wise to the harms of EV mandates. Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and Vermont each backed off policies to follow California's emissions policies while North Carolina, Texas, Ohio, West Virginia, and eight other states passed SEMA-supported "ban the ban" legislation to ensure such mandates never take effect again. 

This follows a significant financial investment by SEMA to educate voters throughout the 2024 presidential campaign via its Driving Force Action SuperPAC, with ads running the battleground states of Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. 

About SEMA

The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) serves as a leading voice for the worldwide car culture, representing over 7,000 member companies that create, buy, sell, and use specialty-automotive parts that make vehicles more unique, attractive, convenient, safer, fun, and even like new again. Business member benefits include product development resources, market research, networking, education, legislative advocacy, and more. The Association organizes the annual SEMA Show in Las Vegas, Nev., and actively supports the career and business opportunities that the aftermarket generates. The industry contributes nearly $337 billion in economic impact to the U.S. economy, supports 1.3 million jobs nationally, and generates $52.3 billion in parts sales annually. For more information, visit https://www.sema.org.

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Photos for this press release: Photo 1& Photo 2