Do Americans Have a 'Freedom to Fix' Their Cars?
A Trump memo revives debate over the right to repair.
This week, President Donald Trump signed a "Freedom to Fix" memo, reviving debates over how easy it should be for Americans to fix their cars.
The memo, signed on Monday, asks the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to clarify "what actions individuals may take on their own vehicles to conduct emission repairs" consistent with the Clean Air Act (CAA). The memo also seeks to lower repair costs by reducing reliance on the California Air Resources Board, the sole certifier of CAA-approved aftermarket parts. Finally, it states that the EPA "shall consider deprioritizing civil tampering enforcement actions against anyone who, in good faith, attempts to fix his or her own vehicle to its original configuration."
Headlines about Trump's recent memo conflated the push for relaxing EPA restrictions with the broader right-to-repair movement. But it appears to be another escalatory action against California-led vehicle regulations and environmental standards. Marc Scribner, senior transportation policy analyst at Reason Foundation—the nonprofit that publishes this magazine—says he "wouldn't put the Trump memo (and similar previous actions in agriculture) in the same category" and doesn't expect the action to have "a huge impact" on costs. Still, the president has waded into the right-to-repair debate before, and lawmakers, including Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D–Wash.), have pushed for national right-to-repair legislation.
Right-to-repair laws may sound draconian and absurd. The term suggests that in places unprotected by these laws, federal agents are tracking down Americans attempting to repair their cars and bludgeoning them with their own wrenches. Rather, these laws require manufacturers to provide information and certain parts to product owners so they may fix electronic devices, appliances, and cars.
The right to repair is not enforced nationwide, which has created a confusing patchwork of regulations. As a recent Newsweek map illustrates, only Massachusetts and Maine have comprehensive automotive right-to-repair laws. Some states, including California, Colorado, Minnesota, and Oregon, have right-to-repair laws for nonautomotive products like consumer electronics, farm equipment, and appliances. Connecticut's right-to-repair law went into effect on July 1, covering home appliances and electronics.
While the right-to-repair issue feels straightforward—after all, who does not want to be able to repair their own car?—it has often played out as a battle between independent auto repair shops and car manufacturers, as a contentious 2020 Massachusetts ballot initiative campaign demonstrated. The measure in question would have required car manufacturers to provide diagnostic data to consumers and independent mechanic shops. Car manufacturers, who would see a significant share of their business lost to independent mechanics and car repair chains, opposed the measure and poured tens of millions of dollars into the campaign, making it the most expensive ballot initiative campaign in the state's history, Reason reported at the time. Despite this aggressive spending, the measure passed with overwhelming voter support.
Opponents have argued that giving consumers access to electronics data raises intellectual property and liability problems, while supporters say these concerns are overblown. Others have said right-to-repair laws are not necessary in the first place. As Ike Brannon, then a visiting fellow at the Cato Institute, has argued, the right-to-repair debate "obscures the reality that most repairs currently can be completed by owners or third parties and that manufacturers have taken steps to help clarify and expand precisely what their consumers can do on their own."
While right-to-repair laws empower DIYers, they also involve the state in what would otherwise be voluntary interactions between consumers and companies. Ideally, consumers would opt for products that last (or that are easily repairable), and companies would respond to their demands. But as cars become more technologically advanced, right-to-repair laws may become not just a perk for consumers, but a necessity. For now, however, the issue remains contentious, and while Trump's memo brings more attention to the matter, it does not change current right-to-repair laws.
