WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 16, 2026) – The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) is celebrating the Trump Administration’s decision to rescind the 2009 Endangerment Finding and Greenhouse Gas Vehicle Standards, dubious policy positions that empowered regulators at the federal and state levels to override consumer choices on vehicles. Among those abuses were federal- and state-led efforts to ban internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles and impose nationwide electric vehicle (EV) mandates.
- By following through with its intent to repeal the GHG endangerment finding, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is unleashing innovation in a significant segment of the automotive aftermarket industry that is entirely dependent on ICE technology. That segment, which has a $100 billion annual economic impact and employs more than 330,000 Americans, is now free to rely on free-market solutions to our emissions challenges.
“This is a tremendous decision by the EPA to course-correct after nearly two decades of abuses by previous administrations at the federal and state levels, and instead return sanity to our nation’s environmental policies,” said SEMA CEO Mike Spagnola. “It was with great trepidation that SEMA watched our nation’s leaders demonize and ban the very motor vehicles that serve as the bedrock upon which the American people – families, small businesses, and automotive enthusiasts – rely to live their best, most prosperous lives. It was even more infuriating to watch these policymakers brazenly justify their actions with a dubious policy position that now rightly goes away, to be replaced with a common-sense, free-market view of what drives our nation’s prosperity.”
BACKGROUND
- The EPA’s decision will directly impact federal new car requirements and does not impact existing emissions laws established by the Clean Air Act. Instead, it will ensure that automakers produce vehicles driven by consumer demand, rather than greenhouse gas limits, that latter of which has significantly influenced the models of vehicles available to the American people since 2009. This policy shift will directly impact the range of new vehicle choices that exist in the coming years.
- In comments responding to the EPA’s rulemaking for Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2025–0194 — Reconsideration of the 2009 Endangerment Finding and Greenhouse Gas Vehicle Standards, SEMA identified economic and cultural considerations for re-establishing a foundation of vehicle choice in the U.S. automotive market, which, because of recent GHG emissions policies, have experienced an erosion of affordability and innovation.
- SEMA and its 7,000 member businesses are the heart of the U.S. automotive aftermarket industry, which annually contributes more than $337 billion to the U.S. economy and supports more than 1.3 million American jobs.
- Most of the businesses that make up the aftermarket are small businesses, but there is nothing small about the innovation and ingenuity they show every day. The products that aftermarket businesses manufacture, sell, and distribute to automotive enthusiasts worldwide are a testament to our nation’s engineering superiority.
- The SEMA Show in Las Vegas, the largest trade show in North America, with 160,000 attendees expected, annually includes the centerpiece “FutureTech Studio” activation, where the organization showcases different propulsion technologies, including EV, hybrid, hydrogen, alternative fuels, and other technological advancements that represent the “what’s next, what’s possible” of the American automotive industry.
- SEMA is not anti-EV, nor will it ever be. Rather, SEMA is passionate about protecting the freedom of businesses to deliver the next groundbreaking product, and the American consumer’s freedom to choose whether that product fits their needs and lifestyle. Such innovation can only be delivered through technology-neutral government policy and by allowing the marketplace to drive demand for these products.
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