President Donald Trump says his administration will move to scale back environmental requirements on tractors and other farm machinery, arguing the changes will lower equipment costs and make repairs simpler for producers. The comments came Monday during the White House roundtable where the President also unveiled a new $12 billion “bridge payment” plan for farmers affected by trade disruptions.
Trump criticized modern emissions systems—particularly diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) technology—saying added EPA requirements have made equipment more expensive and overly complicated. “You buy it, it’s got so much equipment on it for the environmental, it doesn’t do anything except it makes the equipment much more expensive and much more complicated to work,” Trump said. He added that manufacturers like John Deere will be expected to reduce prices as restrictions are removed.
While Trump did not outline specific regulatory changes, he said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin will lead the effort. EPA officials later confirmed that DEF requirements are the primary target, citing widespread complaints from truckers and farmers.
The administration’s push follows EPA guidance earlier this year allowing more flexibility in how manufacturers handle DEF-related faults, including reducing sudden engine shutdowns and permitting software updates. Those updates do not eliminate emissions equipment, but they were intended to address what EPA called long-standing “red tape” that affected both truck and equipment performance.
Trump also used the roundtable to argue that modern machinery has become too complex for producers to service on their own, saying the layers of environmental technology make repairs difficult and costly. “The machines, they’re always under repair because they’re so complicated that you can’t fix them,” he said. “In the old days you used to fix it yourself. Now you have to be a Ph.D. from MIT.” He claimed rolling back regulations would quickly lower sticker prices on new equipment.
The announcement drew praise from some manufacturers. In a post on X, John Deere commended the administration’s bridge payments and said the company shares the goal of reducing input costs for farmers.
