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President Donald Trump on Thursday took action to bring down the cost of groceries for Americans by rolling back burdensome regulatory policies enacted by the past Biden administration.
Speaking from the Oval Office with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Zeldin, as well as a slate of grocery store chain CEOs and franchise owners, the president announced a slowdown on Biden-era EPA refrigerant regulations stemming from the 2023 Technology Transitions Rule and the 2024 Emissions Reduction and Reclamation Rule, per the White House.
Under the previous policies, the EPA sought to phase out the use and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a so-called chemical “greenhouse gas” used in refrigeration and cooling systems (such as freezers and air conditioners).
This phaseout was enacted by prohibiting the sale and manufacture of products using HFC, as well as barring the installation of any such units. According to the White House, the Trump admin aims to extend the compliance deadlines for these phaseouts. It also proposes a “correction” to the 2024 Emissions Reduction and Reclamation Rule – rolling back “crippling leak repair requirements” on large-scale refrigeration systems.
President Trump said that by rolling back these harsh restrictions, consumer prices will drop by about $2 billion annually. Why? Grocery retailers, for example, along with subsequent food vehicles, like refrigerated trucks, were disproportionately affected by this sudden and forced technology transition.
“This rule also drove up the cost of living by forcing consumers to purchase higher cost residential air conditioning units,” President Trump said.
“This was a tremendous burden, a tremendous cost,” he added.
Administrator Zeldin discussed the Biden-era rules, noting that many Americans had voiced their frustration about the stringent nature of the policy.
“Americans who wanted to be able to fix their equipment were instead being required to buy far more costly, new equipment,” he said.
Zeldin praised the Trump administration for “righting another wrong” from the Biden administration.
Greg Foran, the CEO of the large-scale grocery retailer Kroger Co., told reporters that the regulation rollback would help keep grocery prices down.
“We operate about 2,700 supermarkets – an orderly transition of equipment reduces both capital cost and operating costs,” he said.
President Trump slammed the forcible equipment change, which he described as “stuff that barely works.”
“There’s no negative impact by having a good system,” he remarked.
According to the White House, these actions are projected to save Americans $2.4 billion and safeguard more than 350,000 jobs.
