Not each European is on board with US vehicles
In a not too long ago printed letter addressed to European Union officers, dated October 20, public officers from outstanding European cities corresponding to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, in addition to greater than 75 civil society organizations within the area, have warned that the EU should revisit what it calls a “rapidly agreed commerce deal” between it and the US, through which the area is intent on accepting decrease US automobile requirements with reference to imported automobiles.
Per the letter dated October 20, the signees warn that aligning European requirements for vehicles with the laxer guidelines within the US would undermine the EU’s progress in growing street security, regulating the impression of air air pollution on public well being and the local weather, and sustaining the EU’s industrial competitiveness.
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Accepting American vehicles will make European roads much less secure, the letter claims
The letter primarily revolves across the EU–US Joint Assertion on commerce, signed on August 21, 2025, through which it said that “with respect to vehicles, the US and the European Union intend to simply accept and supply mutual recognition to one another’s requirements.”
This has the signees fearful, as they level to June 2021 knowledge that exhibits that European automobile security rules helped scale back European street deaths by 36% since 2010. In the identical interval, knowledge from the USDOT exhibits that fatalities on US roads elevated by 30%, with pedestrian deaths up by 80% and bike owner deaths up by 50%. Europe credit its developments to necessary superior applied sciences, corresponding to automated emergency braking and lane-keep help methods, in addition to required security measures, together with pedestrian safety options like entrance deformation zones and rules in opposition to sharp edges like these discovered on the Tesla Cybertruck.
“Europe constructed its popularity on pioneering sturdy automobile requirements. To simply accept decrease US requirements would undo a long time of EU progress,” the signatories wrote of their letter. “The results of such a transfer for European street security could be profound.”
As well as, they fear that by accepting the decrease automobile requirements of their American counterparts, there would possible be a wave of what they are saying are “outsized, US pick-ups and SUVs” onto European roads. The signatories really feel they’re unfit for European roads, as they discover them considerably heavier and extra aggressive in collisions, and a larger danger not simply to pedestrians and cyclists but in addition to drivers of EU-market vehicles.
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Accepting American vehicles will make European air dirtier
Along with the laxer security rules on American automobiles in comparison with these offered within the EU, the letter’s signatories state that whereas the EU is transferring to set limits on the contribution of brake and tire put on to air air pollution by 2026, the US is within the strategy of weakening automobile air air pollution guidelines. By adopting these rules, the signatories warn that new imports may “enhance European publicity to pollution linked to bronchial asthma, most cancers and quite a few cardiovascular and neurological situations.”
The letter mainly pointed to the EPA’s July 29 announcement that it was rescinding the landmark 2009 endangerment discovering, a call that set the course for rules on greenhouse gasoline emissions, corresponding to these from vehicles and energy crops. On the time, it famous that if its proposal is finalized, greenhouse gasoline emissions rules for motor automobiles and engines could be repealed, which it claims would restore client alternative and permit People to buy a secure and inexpensive automotive for his or her households.
“With this proposal, the Trump EPA is proposing to finish sixteen years of uncertainty for automakers and American shoppers,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin stated on the time. “[…] If finalized, rescinding the Endangerment Discovering and ensuing rules would finish $1 trillion or extra in hidden taxes on American companies and households.”
Closing ideas
The signatories additionally warn that adopting these requirements for automobiles imported from the US may have drastic results on jobs within the area. They famous that though manufacturers like BMW, Mercedes, and Stellantis already construct a number of automobiles within the US, “accepting decrease US automobile requirements would speed up this pattern, as corporations shift manufacturing to keep away from EU guidelines and re-import automobiles below weaker US requirements.” Such a pattern may carry “large-scale job losses not solely amongst carmakers however throughout Europe’s provide chain.”
Whereas the argument for a unified set of requirements and rules, together with crash security and emissions requirements, looks like a good suggestion at first, it is important to acknowledge the variations between American and European roads from an infrastructure standpoint, whereas additionally accounting for our driving habits. Whether or not or not this letter does something to change the EU’s choices stays to be seen, however one factor is for certain: growing US imports within the US shouldn’t be as simple because it may need appeared.
