President Trump's Executive Orders Affecting HVACR

On his first day in office, President Trump signed 46 Executive Orders (EO) ranging from federal workforce issues to energy. A few of these Executive Orders could affect the heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVACR) industry.

• President Trump signed an EO titled “Delivering Emergency Price Relief for American Families and Defeating the Cost-of-Living Crisis,” which calls for “eliminat[ing] counterproductive requirements that raise the costs of home appliances.”

  • The Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) includes anti-backsliding requirements that make it difficult, if not impossible, to repeal finalized energy efficiency rules without an act of Congress. The EO does not explain how the administration plans to circumvent the EPCA requirement.

• A second executive order, “Unleashing American Energy,” said it is the policy of the U.S. “to safeguard the American people’s freedom to choose from a variety of goods and appliances, including but not limited to lightbulbs, dishwashers, washing machines, gas stoves, water heaters, toilets, and shower heads, and to promote market competition and innovation within the manufacturing and appliance industries;”

• The “Unleashing American Energy” EO also directed “All agencies [to] immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022,” however the DOE previously awarded funding to all 49 states, DC, and U.S. territories that had applied for funding.

• President Trump’s “Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements” Executive Order withdraws the U.S. from the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The EO did not affect the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which phases down hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) internationally and has been implemented in the U.S. through the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act.

• In a memo outlining the “America First Trade Policy,” President Trump directed various agencies to evaluate the need for tariffs, including increasing tariffs implemented by President Trump under Section 301 on Chinese imports. Additionally, the memo calls for ways to change the U.S., Mexico, Canada Agreement (NAFTA 2.0) in preparation for renegotiation next year. The memo itself does not implement any additional tariffs.