A GOP business group claims California created an illegal cartel to push for electric trucks

First on Fox – A pro-business Republican group Truck Operators in the Midwest California regulators say they illegally bypassed federal law to force the switch to electric trucks.

The U.S. Chamber of Free Commerce (AmFree) and trucking operators allege in a new lawsuit that California has created a monopoly arrangement with the nation’s largest heavy-duty truck companies to phase out internal combustion engines by 2036. The alleged scheme involves the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and all Major manufacturers of gas-powered heavy-duty trucks entered into an agreement called the Clean Truck Partnership last year.

“The agreement includes a number of rules that California is trying to implement that would force full electrification of the trucking sector in just over a decade,” said Michael Buchbacher, lead attorney for AmFee.

While most states are prohibited from setting their own standards for automobile emissions, California has exclusive permission to do so under the Clean Air Act of 1967, as long as its rules are approved by the EPA. But AmFree claims California illegally tried to impose emissions standards without getting a green light from the EPA.

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“If you don’t have permission from the EPA, you can’t even try to impose these (types of) standards,” Buchbacher said. “These are emissions standards for new cars. And that’s what this agreement is about. And our argument is that this is illegal, and it should be.” “It stops.”

CARB did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The complaint states so Climate organizations in California It produced a “tornado of coercive and disruptive regulations” aimed at achieving Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s goal of making all heavy vehicles in the Golden State “zero-emission” by 2045.

But in July 2023, California offered major truck manufacturers temporary regulatory relief in exchange for commitments to adopt vehicle standards “that would require the sale and adoption of zero-emission technology in the state, regardless of whether any other entity challenges California’s authority to set more stringent emissions standards.” Under the federal Clean Air Act, according to CARB.

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This agreement, which gave truck manufacturers a “reasonable deadline” to comply with California emissions standards, is known as the Clean Truck Partnership. Manufacturers that were party to the agreement and are named in the lawsuit include Cummins Inc., Daimler Truck North America, Ford, General Motors, Hino Motors Limited Inc., Isuzu Technical Center of America Inc., Navistar, Paccar, Stellantis NV, And Volvo. The North American Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association, an industry trade group.

“In exchange for recognition of CARB’s sovereignty, manufacturers received comfortable monopoly arrangements that guaranteed them a continuous stream of profits, subsidies, and supracompetitive tax credits,” the lawsuit alleges.

“By working integratedly as an industry, this arrangement ensures that costs will not be borne by manufacturers but will be passed on to their customers and then to the rest of the country.”

Two trucking companies, Meiborg Brothers Inc., filed. and TanTara Transportation Corp., filed affidavits in AmFree’s lawsuit, alleging harm caused by California’s actions.

The companies say some manufacturers are now requiring them to buy one electric truck for every seven to eight diesel trucks they buy or face higher prices. In court documents, operators claim they will lose access to nearly a quarter of U.S. truck dealers once California and other states adopting California standards phase out diesel trucks.

They also argue that electric trucks cost more upfront and incur higher maintenance and resale costs, which cannot be fully passed on to consumers.

“The consequences here are that it will lead to higher costs and reduced consumer choice,” Buchbacher said.

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“If you think Grocery prices are bad right now Under the Biden-Harris administration, this will push them further. “If you think it costs too much to rent a U-Haul to move across town, these things will go up as a result.”

AmFree’s lawsuit comes on the heels of a similar lawsuit filed by Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers, who accused CARB and truck manufacturers of engaging in an “industry-wide conspiracy” to eliminate liquid-fuel trucks.

Hilgers told Fox Business that these four companies have publicly admitted to “colluding in a classic antitrust manner.”

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Like Nebraska, AmFree is seeking a court order to block implementation of the Clean Truck Partnership.

“California has its own view of how things should be, and this is an all-electric future,” Buchbacher said. “But this is not a smart way to address climate policy.” “We should have technology-neutral innovation in the United States that moves toward clean solutions in ways that actually grow the economy and improve our way of life. This does the opposite.”