Trump’s Latest Deregulatory Action Is Terrifying Democrats and China

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Friday that it is repealing a Biden-era power plant regulation that the Chinese government had urged it to keep in place.

The agency announced in a statement the repeal of Biden-era amendments to the power plant emissions rule commonly referred to as the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS). The Trump administration argues that the repeal will save an estimated $670 million and the MATS requirements for power plants that will remain in place are “robust.”

The Daily Caller News Foundation previously reported that the Chinese government left public comments on multiple EPA rule proposals, including the repeal of the 2024 MATS rules. In response to a DCNF question on the issue, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said that it is “very telling” that China would want to keep Biden-era rules in place.

“The Biden-Harris Administration’s anti-coal regulations sought to regulate out of existence this vital sector of our energy economy. If implemented, these actions would have destroyed reliable American energy,” Zeldin said in a statement on Friday. “The Trump EPA knows that we can grow the economy, enhance baseload power, and protect human health and the environment all at the same time. It is not a binary choice and never should have been.”

Additionally, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Democrats posted on X Friday over the announcement that “the EPA used to work to keep deadly neurotoxins out of our air, food, and water. Now, they’re erasing protections that would have saved 11,000 lives every year just to burn more coal.”

Earlier MATS rules will remain in place, the agency noted, with EPA Deputy Administrator David Fotouhi saying in a statement that the 2012 MATS rule and the 2020 Trump EPA rule that reaffirms it are “fully protective of human health risks.”

Notably, the Biden EPA enacted several regulations that concerned some energy policy experts and grid operators. The Trump administration, by contrast, has adopted a deregulatory agenda and fought to keep coal plants running beyond their early retirement dates as energy demand climbs.

“The 2012 edition of the Technical Regulation of the Standard for Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) is too old to adapt to the current production technology and global environmental governance requirements,” the People’s Republic of China wrote in a public comment submitted to the EPA on Aug. 11, 2025. “We do not approve the EPA’s decision to repeal the 2024 edition of the MATS and re-adopt the 2012 edition of the MATS. … This self-defeating environmental policy has created significant uncertainty in trade and increased operational risks for businesses.”

Additionally, Republican Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis introduced legislation to bar American adversaries from participating in federal rulemaking through leaving public comments, as the DCNF previously reported.