Trump admin says EPA rollback of Biden-era rule ‘will be felt directly by American families in lower grocery prices.’ Are they over-promising?

In a statement, Joanne Hsu, director of the survey, said, “The cost of living continues to be a first-order concern, with 57% of consumers spontaneously mentioning that high prices were eroding their personal finances.” She added, “Critically, consumers appear worried that inflation will increase and proliferate beyond fuel prices, even in the long run.”

Grocery prices soaring as Americans feel glum

One major price concern is around something we all need to survive – food. And there’s good reason for that worry – grocery prices just saw their largest month-to-month leap since 2023, rising 2.9% in April compared to a year ago. Amid fuel shocks, weather woes and tariffs, shoppers have seen prices for some foods escalate more than others: Beef prices are near record highs, coffee will cost you almost 20% more than it did last year and tomatoes are up a whopping 40%. And some experts say things could get worse.

This is where some promises from the Trump administration come in. The EPA announced on May 21 they would be rolling back two Biden-era rules that sought to reduce the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) used for air conditioning and refrigeration.

HFCs are considered by climate scientists to be a serious pollutant. As the Climate & Clean Air Coalition reports: “Though HFCs currently represent around 2% of total greenhouse gases, their impact on global warming can be hundreds to thousands of times greater than that of carbon dioxide (CO2) per unit of mass.”

Biden’s move to limit HFCs was part of an aim to cut them by 85% by 2036 – and they also argued businesses and consumers would see cost savings of $4.5 billion due to increased efficiencies and the lower cost of HFC substitutes.

‘President Trump is righting another wrong’

But current Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Lee Zeldin doesn’t see it that way. Appearing at the White House to join in the announcement about extending the deadline for a phaseout of HFCs used in air conditioners and refrigerators, he claimed this move would lead to a savings of $800 million for supermarkets alone, “which Americans will be able to see when they go and buy their food.” This is because a wider variety of refrigerants would still be available to businesses.

A second change aims to exempt refrigerant transport from a rule designed to reduce HFC leaks. An EPA release claims the two moves will save families and businesses over $2.4 billion. “This will be felt directly by American families in lower grocery prices,” Zeldin said in a press release.

At the White House, Zeldin went on to say the Biden EPA “face planted” when trying to “jam through” their restrictions, noting that Americans who wanted to “fix” their equipment, such as refrigerators, were instead required to buy much more costly equipment, and that refrigeration trucks were being handed “impossible restrictions to meet.”

But, he said, “Once again, here we are in the Oval Office – President Trump is righting another wrong.”

Kroger CEO Greg Foran also spoke at the event, saying, “An orderly transition of equipment reduces both capital costs and operating costs, and at the end of the day that’s good for consumers because we’re able to take that and put that into lowering prices.”

Will consumers really benefit?

Food industry groups have welcomed this news, which has been in consideration since last year.

FMI-The Food Association President and CEO Leslie G. Sarasin said in a statement that the rollback helps soothe “unnecessary financial burdens on the food industry and grocery shoppers,” allowing grocery stores more time to address labor and supply chain issues when upgrading their systems.

But what isn’t quite clear is if grocery retailers will really pass down any savings to everyday shoppers. While Foran spoke at the event, he didn’t outline any plans directly related to the EPA announcement – and he has already announced plans for massive unrelated price cuts at the store in order to compete with rivals such as Walmart, Trader Joe’s and Amazon.

Foran told Bloomberg these cuts would be made by importing merchandise directly and making better use of technology – refrigeration wasn’t brought up. But Kroger and other large grocery retailers have already made moves toward climate-friendly “natural refrigerant,” so the news may be less relevant to them and more so to smaller grocers who haven’t yet invested in new equipment.

Skeptical experts

Experts are skeptical that this move will be felt in the wallets of the average consumer. Food prices today are largely being affected by rising fuel prices, tariffs, weather conditions and major cattle herd shortages, in the case of beef. And the administration has not made it clear how the EPA rollback will directly lead to price cuts on grocery shelves.