President Trump’s “Regulatory Freeze Pending Review” Presidential memorandum, which asks agencies to consider postponing the effective date of any rules that have been published in the Federal Register but have not yet taken effect, could impact the new NHTSA final rule related to automatic emergency braking (AEB) technology.

The AEB final rule, published in May 2024, will require all new light vehicles to be equipped with automatic braking systems that meet certain performance requirements by Sept. 1, 2029. The “freeze” does not change this final rule or compliance date.

However, following the “regulatory freeze” memorandum, NHTSA published a notice delaying publication of a November 26, 2024 final rule which responded to automotive industry petitions for reconsideration of the AEB rule, denied many of them, and made some clarifying changes to the standard. The agency will now have until March 20, 2025, to consider the petitions.

This freeze does not have any immediate impact on the forthcoming AEB rule. However, it does indicate that the Trump administration may conduct further review of the rule and to the petitions for reconsideration from vehicle manufacturers and trade associations which, among other things, asked the agency to reconsider the rule’s “no-contact” braking requirement as impractical and inconsistent with global braking standards.

This delay comes on the heels of increasing pushback from the automotive industry against the AEB rule, which includes (in addition to the petitions for reconsideration) a lawsuit filed last week by Alliance for Automotive Innovation that petitioned the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals for additional review of the rule.