
The Justice Department has closed its antitrust investigation of four auto makers that had reached a tailpipe emissions deal last summer with the state of California, according to The Wall Street Journal.
After examining the matter for several months, the department concluded that the auto makers, Ford Motor, Honda Motor, BMW and Volkswagen, didn’t engage in conduct that violated US antitrust law, the people said.
At issue was a July agreement between the auto makers and the California Air Resources Board on fuel efficiency standards, a state-based framework that is at odds with the Trump administration’s regulatory approach.
Justice Department officials questioned whether the companies agreed among themselves on the outlines of the deal with California regulators, and the auto makers received formal civil subpoenas in the fall.
Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board, has said the state worked individually with the auto makers and that all parties were mindful of not violating antitrust laws.
The Justice Department had started investigating the companies amid larger conflicts between the Trump administration and California, often on environmental grounds. In September, the administration moved to take away California’s ability to set its own vehicle emissions standards, and then informed state leaders that their air-pollution plans might be incomplete or unworkable, putting billions of dollars in federal aid for the state at risk.
The friction over the future of the auto industry has been the biggest conflict. Since its earliest days, the Trump administration has been attempting to roll back rules California had set in collaboration with the Obama administration to reduce tailpipe emissions. Leaders in the Republican administration want to curb Democratic-dominated California’s influence over rules governing the industry.
Featured News
OpenAI Board Denies Receiving Formal Bid from Elon Musk
Feb 12, 2025 by
CPI
Thomas Kauper, Former DOJ Antitrust Leader, Dies at 89
Feb 12, 2025 by
CPI
BlackRock’s Acquisition of Preqin Secures UK Regulatory Approval
Feb 12, 2025 by
CPI
NFL Sued Over Bluesky Ban by Fans Citing Antitrust Violations
Feb 12, 2025 by
CPI
Warburg Pincus Strikes $1 Billion Deal to Acquire Vermont Information Processing
Feb 12, 2025 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – International Criminal Enforcement
Jan 23, 2025 by
CPI
The Antitrust Division’s Recent Work to Combat International Cartels
Jan 23, 2025 by
Emma Burnham & Benjamin Christenson
Information Sharing: The New Frontier of U.S. Antitrust Enforcement
Jan 23, 2025 by
Brian P. Quinn, Casey Kovarik & Michael Tubach
The Key Role of Guidelines on Exchanges of Information Among Competitors and the Divergent Transatlantic Paths
Jan 23, 2025 by
Rosa Abrantes-Metz & Albert Metz
Leniency, Whistleblowers, and Compliance
Jan 23, 2025 by
Richard Powers, Tara O’Malley & Cory Gordon