More than two months after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the automotive industry continues to face substantial uncertainty regarding the direction and priorities of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) over the next few years. For now, we can only guess.  The new Transportation Secretary, Elaine Chao, was confirmed January 31.  She takes over a NHTSA that had been working hard to keep up with emerging technologies – while acting increasingly muscular in its fines and other punishments under the prior administration.

For some safety agencies, it is much easier to read the tea leaves under the new administration. For example, at the Consumer Product Safety Commission, for example, we know that there is a new Republican Acting Chair (Ann Marie Buerkle), and that the five commissioners will remain 3-2 in favor of Democrats until at least October 2017 when Democratic Commissioner Marietta Robinson’s term on the Commission expires.  See prior article here.  And, following Acting Chair Buerkle’s public remarks last month at the annual conference of the International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization (ICPHSO), we know that her top three priorities include: (1) collaborating with all product safety stakeholders; (2) taking a balanced and reasonable approach to regulation; and (3) expanding product safety education and awareness for consumers.  See prior article here.

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