President Trump said Thursday that he is easing federal rules requiring companies to phase out certain chemicals used in commercial refrigeration.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s effort aims to reduce grocery prices as Americans complain about high costs.
Mr. Trump said the regulations were a burdensome legacy from the Biden era and that rolling them back would save an estimated $2 billion per year and create jobs.
“This was a tremendous burden, a tremendous cost — these people had to live with it,” Mr. Trump said, flanked by leaders of businesses that stand to benefit from the rollback.
The decision gives grocers, air-conditioning companies, semiconductor firms and other entities more time to phase out the use of hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs.
The Biden administration issued regulations to crack down on HFCs because his allies considered them heat-trapping pollutants that could warm the planet.
Mr. Trump said restrictions drove up the cost of transportation and storage while forcing companies to replace equipment.
“It’s ridiculous, unnecessary and costly, and actually makes the machinery worse,” he said.
With the midterm elections looming, the president is under pressure to address affordability after he campaigned in 2024 on reducing prices.
Grocery prices rose at an annual rate of nearly 3% in April, according to the latest government report, the highest rate since August 2023.
Mr. Trump on Thursday said he inherited high inflation and that prices will come down as he rolls back regulations. He pointed to early efforts to drive down the cost of eggs, but the prices of other products are stubbornly high or rising.
The U.S. average price of a pound of ground beef has reached $6.90, up from about $5.50 in January 2025.
The U.S. average price of a gallon of gas stood at $4.56 on Thursday, up 53% from when the Iran war started on Feb. 28, according to the AAA motor club.
Mr. Trump on Thursday said gas prices would fall “lower than they were before” once the war ends, and that his move on refrigerants would have a trickle-down effect on food prices.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin criticized the last administration’s “rushed, frantic, reckless sprint” to phase out the refrigerants.
“The Trump EPA is fulfilling President Trump’s promise to lower costs and is fixing every problem we can under the authority Congress gave us,” Mr. Zeldin said. “Our actions allow businesses to choose the refrigeration systems that work best for them, saving them billions of dollars. This will be felt directly by American families in lower grocery prices.”
Speaking in the Oval Office, Kroger CEO Greg Foran said an “orderly transition” will help his grocery chain keep prices down.
Representatives from Piggly Wiggly and other companies said the mandate to transition to new refrigerants was imposed too quickly for grocers to keep up.
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