At an event in the Oval Office of the White House, alongside EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and executives from major grocery chains, Trump described the previous rules as “ridiculous, unnecessary and costly”.

Under the Biden administration’s “technology transition rule”, companies were required to adopt newer refrigerants and replace large-scale cooling systems in supermarkets, restaurants and transport fleets. Trump argued the changes sharply increased costs for businesses and consumers.

“Many grocery stores and restaurants had no choice but to replace their refrigerators entirely,” Trump said. “They went out of business, half of them. And these costs rose; Americans faced higher grocery prices and reduced access to critical medical supplies.”

Trump said the reforms would “deliver significant financial relief, saving American families and businesses more than USD 2.4 billion each year”. He added that the rollback would lower grocery prices, reduce transportation costs and cut air-conditioning expenses “at no detriment at all to our country”.

Zeldin said the Trump administration was reversing what he called a “rushed, frantic, reckless sprint” by the Biden administration to phase out existing refrigeration systems. He claimed the EPA changes would safeguard 350,000 jobs and save supermarkets alone nearly USD 800 million.