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— Automotive aftermarket leader highlights the importance of empowering American innovators to flex their engineering prowess to reduce emissions —
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Sept. 23, 2025) – The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) is urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to follow through with its proposal to rescind a dubious policy position that empowered regulators at the federal and state levels to deprive Americans of vehicle choice through electric vehicle (EV) mandates that were out of step with marketplace realities.
Because a third of SEMA’s members are internal combustion engine (ICE) dependent, the organization was especially motivated to share its views on the EPA’s proposed rule, which can chart an important new direction for innovation and vehicle choice and promises to protect a $100 billion segment of the U.S. economy, including more than 330,000 U.S. jobs.
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 articulates its support for the EPA’s proposal in order to:
- restore the Clean Air Act to its proper scope;
- create long-term certainty for entire industries;
- protect consumer affordability and preserve vehicle choice;
- reduce adverse impacts on small businesses; and
- prevent a patchwork of competing federal and state mandates that destabilize markets by delegating policymaking back to the legislative branch.
“The specialty automotive aftermarket is a uniquely American industry built on ingenious innovation, vibrant consumer enthusiasm, and an unmatched entrepreneurial spirit,” writes SEMA President and CEO Mike Spagnola. “The EPA’s reconsideration of the 2009 GHG Endangerment Finding presents an opportunity to remove unnecessary regulatory barriers and allow market forces to guide technological progress in a way that is consumer-driven. We urge the EPA to finalize the repeal of the Endangerment Finding and its related GHG vehicle standards.”
Read SEMA’s full comments here.
BACKGROUND
- 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 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 upcoming 2025 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, the largest trade show in North America, with 160,000 attendees expected, 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.
