Dunlop CEO Torches Newsom Tire Rule and Tells You Exactly What It Will Cost Everyone

Darren Thomas builds tires for a living, not policy fights, and California just forced one on him.

Five unelected commissioners just voted to ban most of the tires sitting on store shelves across the state.

Thomas has an answer for what happens to your wallet next, and it isn't the one Sacramento wants you to hear.

The California Energy Commission Bans 70 Percent of Replacement Tires

On August 18, the California Energy Commission unanimously approved a new rule targeting something called "rolling resistance."

That's bureaucrat-speak for how much energy it takes a tire to roll down the road.

Under the new standard, roughly 70 percent of the replacement tires currently sold in California will be illegal by 2033.

Dunlop Tires North America CEO Darren Thomas didn't mince words when RedState asked him what that means for drivers.

"Will prices increase? You bet they'll increase," Thomas said. "It's going to be a real issue, in terms of cost."

The Tire Industry Association backs him up with real numbers.

Their research shows the average replacement tire price jumping from $81 to $157 under the mandate.

Multiply that by four tires and a California family is suddenly staring down hundreds of extra dollars just to keep their car legal and safe.

Thomas summed up exactly how Sacramento operates in one sentence.

"Generally when you attempt to regulate something you don't understand or don't care much about, you create bad policy," he said.

Republican State Senator Demands the Commissioners Resign

State Senator Tony Strickland didn't wait around to react.

The Huntington Beach Republican fired off a letter this week demanding all five Energy Commissioners step down.

"I am calling on the five members of the California Energy Commission to resign," Strickland wrote.

He pointed out California families are already paying $5.59 a gallon at the pump compared to $4.11 nationally, with the state gas tax having doubled since 2017.

"If they had to face the voters this November, they would all be removed from office," Strickland told The Center Square.

Meanwhile, Energy Commission spokesman Harrison Reilly tried to downplay the disruption, claiming 30 percent of manufacturers already meet the new standard.

That leaves 70 percent of the market – the tires Californians are actually buying right now – scrambling or getting wiped off the shelves.

Gavin Newsom's team, naturally, insists the mandate is worth it and will save drivers money on fuel down the road.

Tell that to the mom who needs four new tires this week, not a hypothetical fuel savings check sometime before 2033.

California Has Run This Play Before

This is the same state that banned the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035, a mandate so radical that Congress and President Trump had to step in and kill it with a Congressional Review Act resolution in 2025.

That ban would have wiped out consumer choice for an entire category of vehicles, the exact same move Sacramento is now running on tires.

California regulators lost that fight in Washington and simply pivoted to a smaller target that draws less national attention.

Tires don't make headlines like cars do, and that's precisely why the Energy Commission thinks it can get away with it.

Why Your Next Set of Tires Costs More No Matter Where You Live

Here's the part that should make every driver outside California pay attention.

Manufacturers don't build separate product lines for one state – they build to the strictest standard and sell it everywhere.

That's how California's Clean Air Resolution Board rules ended up dictating vehicle emissions standards from Maine to Florida for decades before Trump and Congress intervened.

The tire industry works the same way, and Goodyear has already warned that roughly 70 percent of tires sold in the state will disappear under this mandate by 2033.

When California removes cheap, effective options from a market as massive as its own, manufacturers stop making those tires altogether, and drivers in Texas and Ohio lose the choice too.

Five commissioners nobody voted for just decided what tires 40 million Californians can buy, and Darren Thomas is telling you the bill for that decision is coming due at every tire shop in the state.

Strickland is right that these commissioners would lose their jobs in an election – which is exactly why California never lets voters anywhere near this kind of power.

Sources:

• Bob Hoge, "'Will Prices Increase? You Bet': Tire Manufacturer CEO Blasts CA's Latest Punishing Regulation," RedState, August 26, 2026.
• Bob Hoge, "California's War on Drivers Speeds Up — Now They're Coming for Your Tires," RedState, August 18, 2026.
• Staff, "California Senator Urges Commission to Resign After Tire Rule," The Center Square, August 22, 2026.
• Staff, "Trump, Congress Overturn California's Gas-Car Ban," Competitive Enterprise Institute, 2025.
• Staff, "California's New Tire Mandate Could Drive Up Costs," Legal Insurrection, August 20, 2026.