Trump administration confirms it has ended fuel-economy talks with California

Negotiations between the Trump administration and California officials have broken down. Already-faltering negotiations between the Trump administration and California aimed at resolving a dispute over fuel-economy standards have broken down completely, the White House said Thursday. “The Trump administration has decided to discontinue discussions” with the California Air Resources Board about the Environmental Protection Agency’s plans to scale back the standards, the White House said in a statement. “Accordingly, the administration is moving forward to finalize a rule later this year with the goal of promoting safer, cleaner, and more affordable vehicles.” California officials said the Trump administration’s efforts to reach a compromise were less than genuine. Together, they account for nearly 40% of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. As a result of the administration’s decision to abandon negotiations, car makers could find themselves in a regulatory nightmare in which they have to produce different vehicles for a divided U.S. market — one class of cars that would meet the Trump administration’s scaled-back standard and cleaner vehicles for California and the states that follow its regulations.