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Reuters
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Reuters
Automakers want US to move faster on self-driving car rules
WASHINGTON, June 26 (Reuters) - Major automakers want Congress and the Trump administration to move faster to make it easier to deploy autonomous vehicles without human controls as new robotaxi tests expand. Congress has been divided for years about whether to pass legislation to address deployment hurdles, while the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has not moved quickly to rewrite safety rules or allow exemptions for up to 2,500 vehicles without human controls annually and ease other hurdles. "The auto industry wants, it needs a functioning and effective auto safety regulator. We don't have that today," said Alliance for Automotive Innovation CEO John Bozzella at a U.S. House of Representatives hearing on Thursday. "The agency isn't nimble. Rulemakings take too long if they come at all." Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association Director Jeff Farrah urged Congress to pass long-stalled nationwide legislation to allow the United States to globally lead on AVs as China moves aggressively in the field. "Right now we are fighting with one hand tied behind our back," Farrah said. Companies have pushed for more action for years. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in April that a new department framework to boost autonomous vehicles would help U.S. automakers compete with Chinese rivals. Earlier this month, NHTSA said it would speed reviews of requests from automakers to deploy self-driving vehicles without required human controls like steering wheels, brake pedals or mirrors. Representative Frank Pallone of New Jersey, a Democrat, cited reports showing NHTSA has lost as much as 35% of its expert staff this year through layoffs and other exits, which puts the ability of the agency to function at risk. NHTSA said "significantly fewer people have left" than Pallone suggested and that it remains "staffed to continue to conduct all safety- and mission-critical work" and is boosting its Office of Autonomous Safety. Meanwhile, U.S. traffic deaths remain sharply above pre-COVID levels. Despite falling 3.8% in 2024 to 39,345, they are still significantly higher than the 36,355 killed in 2019 and double the average rate of other high-income countries. "NHTSA is failing to meet the moment," Insurance Institute for Highway Safety President David Harkey told lawmakers. "In recent years, it has approached its job with a lack of urgency, using flawed methodologies that underestimate the safety benefits of obviously beneficial interventions," he said. NHTSA routinely fails to write regulations even when directed by Congress and has often gone years without a Senate-confirmed leader.
Daily Mail
14-06-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Mail
Ford forced to shutter factories amid worrying parts shortages: 'Hand-to-mouth right now'
China's trade leverage temporarily shuttered one of Detroit's biggest brands. Ford's CEO, Jim Farley, said his company doesn't have enough rare-earth magnets, forcing the automaker to halt some production lines. 'It's day to day,' the top boss said in a Friday interview with Bloomberg News. 'We have had to shut down factories. It's hand-to-mouth right now.' Ford's production struggles are part of the ongoing tit-for-tat trade escalation between Washington and Beijing. But the company is expecting relief in the coming weeks. In April, Chinese officials stopped the flow of magnets into the US — a critical component found in nearly every modern car's brake pads, seats, windshield wipers, and batteries. The pause came in response to President Donald Trump's then-145 percent tariffs on all Chinese imports. The throttled magnet trade threatened to strangle production plants and empty car dealership lots, sending automakers and industry groups into a tizzy. In May, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation — which represents major US automakers — sent a letter to President Trump warning that China's response could paralyze car production. 'Without reliable access to these elements and magnets, automotive suppliers will be unable to produce critical automotive components,' the letter, signed by the group's president, John Bozzella, said. 'In severe cases, this could include the need for reduced production volumes or even a shutdown of vehicle assembly lines.' Later that month, workers at Ford's Chicago plant, where the company builds the popular Explorer SUV, were told to go home due to the magnet shortage. But as Ford continues to scramble for parts, the company is now expecting a reopening of the supply spigot. American and Chinese trade negotiators have announced a tentative agreement that lowers tariff rates and resumes magnet exports. The deal includes temporary export licenses for rare-earth suppliers. Those licenses will allow magnet shipments to resume to the top three US automakers — including Ford — as soon as this month. China's President Xi Jinping has not officially signed the deal, but President Trump posted on Truth Social that the agreement was 'done.' Industry analysts confirmed to that rare-earth magnets will likely be exempt from American tariffs under the new deal. A standard gas-powered vehicle requires around a half-pound of rare earth magnets CEO Jim Farley confirmed that Ford had temporarily shuttered some of its plants because of China's magnet pause Ford produces over 80 percent of its SUVs and trucks for the US market in American plants Still, as the pipeline starts back up, Farley's announcement underscores China's current leverage over American manufacturing. The US once refined its own rare-earth magnets for vehicle assembly, with facilities operating across dozens of Midwestern states. But 20 years ago, the last domestic refinement plant — located in Indiana — shut down. China, which now controls more than 90 percent of global rare-earth processing capacity, filled the gap. American automakers are now looking elsewhere for supply, including Australia, Canada, and Saudi Arabia. 'Should the US-China trade deal be upheld by both sides, US automakers should be able to secure enough rare earths to continue their production as scheduled,' Seth Goldstein, a vehicle analyst at Morningstar, told 'I would guess all US automakers are looking to secure alternate rare earths supply outside of China as a way to protect themselves from the potential that China may halt exports again in the future.'
Motor Trend
09-06-2025
- Automotive
- Motor Trend
Trump Transportation Secretary Calls Fuel Economy Standards 'Illegal,' Pushes to Revise Them
It looks like the Trump administration's fight against electric vehicles and alternative fuels has sprouted a proxy battle over Federal fuel economy standards. On top of recently proposed taxes on EVs—as opposed to tax incentives for purchasing them—and attempting to axe California's EPA waiver allowing it to set its own pollution standards, Republicans' 'One Big, Beautiful Bill' aims to remove financial penalties that punish automakers for exceeding government-set fuel economy standards, while also relaxing those same standards. On Friday, the Administration's Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, seemingly putting forth a pretext to undo the Biden-era fuel economy rules, says those rules were 'illegal.' The sharp statement is likely the administration's opening move to reset the standards, per an Associated Press report. In the mentioned rule memorandum sent by Duffy, the Transportation Secretary said, 'We are making vehicle more affordable and easier to manufacture in the United States' by removing those standards. The Biden-era rules mandated that the CAFE average must meet a fleet-wide 49 mpg standard by 2031 in annual increments of two percent for passenger cars starting in 2027 and light trucks and SUVs starting in 2029. A statement by the Alliance for Automotive Innovation welcomed the news stating it was a 'positive development and important clarity from the Department of Transportation' and says it repeated that the Biden Administration rules were 'improperly predicated' on alternative fuel vehicles. Transportation Secretary Duffy went further by stating that the use of EVs in calculating the rules was 'illegal' by ignoring 'statutory requirements' the barred consideration of EVs when setting the standards. At this time, the revised rule hasn't changed the existing standards but it will allow the NHTSA to adjust CAFE standards moving forward. Since his confirmation, Transportation Secretary Duffy has pushed the NHTSA to reverse these rules as quickly as possible, though it's unclear how quickly that can happen given the typically required public comment period and other steps that must be taken when altering them. It's possible that by labeling the existing rules as "illegal," Duffy could be reaching for a shortcut; after all, if the rules were implemented illegally, as he alleges, undoing them might be more straightforward than instituting a more conventional change. But we'll have to wait and see how this plays out—and whether any litigation sprouts up to challenge it.
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
China's Rare Earths Weapon Could Kill Europe's Auto Industry
China earlier this year introduced restrictions on its exports of rare earths. The move marked a new stage in the US- China trade spat, when the two sides no longer tried to out-tariff each other but took to more concrete steps. The problem is, the restrictions don't just apply to U.S. companies. And they may well deliver the fatal blow to Europe's struggling auto industry. China controls 90% of the world's rare earths processing capacity. It is the indisputable, if not exactly celebrated in the West, master of the rare earths industry. And now, it is using this position to make a point to trade partners that have gone above and beyond to restrict Chinese exports to their own countries and regions—essentially the same thing that Washington does when it uses the dominance of the dollar to sanction governments it doesn't see eye to eye with. Rare earths are used in a perhaps surprisingly wide variety of products. More specifically, it's rare-earth magnets that are troubling carmakers on both sides of the ocean. 'Without reliable access to these elements and magnets, automotive suppliers will be unable to produce critical automotive components, including automatic transmissions, throttle bodies, alternators, various motors, sensors, seat belts, speakers, lights, motors, power steering, and cameras,' the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an industry body, wrote in a letter addressed to the Trump administration in early May. The letter, cited by Reuters in a recent report on the rare earths restrictions, is one of what looks like a cry for help that is only going to get louder. It was signed by auto industry leaders including Toyota, Volkswagen, and General Motors, which thanked the administration for trying to resolve the issue. If they didn't, the carmakers said, it would be only a matter of time before car factories started shutting same is happening in Europe, and it's worse—because with Trump, U.S. carmakers no longer have to worry about EVs. With the current European parliament and the Commission, local carmakers do have to worry about EVs, a lot. Because EVs feature greater amounts of those rare earths than internal combustion engine cars. And European carmakers have been mandated with the production and sale of certain minimum numbers of these EVs over the next three years. 'I informed my Chinese counterpart about the alarming situation in the EU car industry — the rare earth and permanent magnets are essential for industrial production… this is extremely disruptive for industry,' the European Union's trade commissioner, Maros Sefcovic, said this week, as quoted by the Financial Times. He added that the 'Carmakers are warning of huge production difficulties in a short period of time.' The clock, in other words, is ticking and China does not really seem in a hurry to stop it. The restrictions that Beijing implemented in mid-April are not literal—or direct. They are in the form of a new licensing regime for anyone who wants to buy rare earth magnets from Chinese producers. To do that, the prospective buyer needs to apply for a license, provide a substantial amount of information, and wait. As a Bosch spokesperson described it, the application process was 'complex and time-consuming, partly due to the need to collect and provide a lot of information.' Because of this complexity, only a few car parts suppliers have been granted such licenses, making the car companies' freak-out only a matter of time, really. But this is coming at a really bad time for European carmakers, despite the substantial rise in EV sales. They are still to turn in a solid profit on their electric cars and they are supposed to be making ever more of these—which means a lot more rare earths. Things are not that swell in the United States, either, after President Donald Trump accused the Chinese of violating a deal the two earlier agreed, on the temporary relaxation of trade warfare, including tariffs and other trade restrictions—only to be slapped back with the accusation that he did that first, by restricting semiconductor exports. Things are not looking good for the car industry right now but there is, as always, a silver lining. It consists in the fact that the world is entirely dependent on a single source of rare earths and this is not a sustainable or secure state of affairs. There has been a lot of talk in both Europe and the United States about building their own supply chains in such critical materials but action has not really been forthcoming. Even if it was, building a supply chain from scratch takes many years—just ask China. Yet the rare earths drama may boost Europe's resolve to actually start working on that supply chain, however long it takes to build it. Import dependence can be fatal. By Irina Slav for More Top Reads From this article on
The Drive
01-06-2025
- Automotive
- The Drive
The Next Car Production Crisis Could Be Caused by Magnet Shortage
The latest car news, reviews, and features. Our reliance on rare-earth minerals is creating a problem: materials shortages. This time, the much-needed resource is magnets, which currently face export restrictions from China. An alliance of automakers and suppliers warns that without a trade resolution (i.e., less paperwork would help), production disruptions are inevitable. In a new Reuters report, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation (AAI) and the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) sent a joint letter to the Trump administration on May 9 about the groups' concerns regarding the availability of rare-earth magnets. A key point of frustration was China's seemingly less-than-expedient effort in issuing export licenses. Without the earth elements, already interrupted assembly lines could find themselves in further turmoil. 'Without reliable access to these elements and magnets, automotive suppliers will be unable to produce critical automotive components,' the groups explained. 'In severe cases, this could include the need for reduced production volumes or even a shutdown of vehicle assembly lines.' These vehicle parts include everything from windshield wiper motors, lights, and automatic transmissions to seatbelts, cameras, and anti-lock braking sensors. So, yeah, pretty much everything. And yet, three weeks later, the situation remains unresolved, said Alliance CEO John Bozzella and MEMA CEO Bill Long to Reuters . The AAI comprises a who's who of automotive manufacturers, such as BMW Group, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Stellantis, Toyota, and Volkswagen. MEMA represents more than 1,000 members (consisting of OE and aftermarket parts suppliers.) Switching to a non-China supplier would also be a significant feat when more than 90% of the planet's rare-earth production capacity, a group of 17 elements, is in China. There is one U.S.-based mine located in Oklahoma, but it still relies on China for processing. E-waste recyclers are working on increasing production, however, such expansion will take years, not days or weeks. Regarding magnets specifically, Reuters says that exports from China were down by half in April, largely due to a vague permit application that sometimes calls for 'hundreds of pages of documents.' Ain't nobody got time for that. Furthermore, the U.S. accused China of violating an agreement that temporarily rolls back certain tariffs and other trade restrictions. In return, China says the U.S. is abusing its export controls within the semiconductor sector. A U.S. official told Reuters that Beijing had promised to issue the rare-earth export licenses, but 'moving slowly' in doing so. And there was potential for Washington retaliation if automotive production were forced to shut down. You know, more than it already has. As the proverb goes, 'When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.' So, here we are, builders and buyers alike, left holding the bag. Got a tip? Drop us a line at tips@
