Raw materials Trump signs decree to expand deep-sea mining
US President Donald Trump has signed a decree to expand deep-sea mining in US and international waters. The White House said on Thursday that the US economy could hope to access billions of tons of valuable minerals.
25.04.2025, 09:35
SDA
Trump is thus opposing an initiative by the International Seabed Authority (ISA). It has been working for decades on an international set of rules for deep-sea mining, which can be highly damaging to the environment.
Mining companies have long been pushing to start digging for metals such as nickel and cobalt on the seabed. The valuable minerals are deposited there in the form of so-called manganese nodules. Their commercial extraction is still in its infancy in terms of technology, but due to the growing importance of many of the substances they contain, some companies are forging ahead.
Added to this is the geopolitical rivalry between the USA and China. The People's Republic dominates the global market for many valuable materials such as rare earths - a sore point for the USA. It is about "counteracting China's growing influence on mineral resources on the seabed", explained the White House with regard to the decree that has now been signed.
However, environmental organizations warn that the procedures could cause considerable ecological damage. "Accelerating deep-sea mining is an environmental disaster in the making," said Emily Jeffers, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. "Trump is trying to open up one of the most fragile and least understood ecosystems on Earth to reckless industrial exploitation."
The UN organization ISA is trying to draw up a set of rules for deep-sea mining, weighing up the economic potential against warnings of irreversible environmental damage. Canadian company The Metals Company had been seeking a mining license under the UN framework for years, but changed its strategy this year and is now relying on a US permit to bypass the ISA.
Last week, the US company Impossible Metals also submitted an application in the USA, bypassing the ISA, with a view to carrying out deep-sea mining near the US territory of American Samoa in the Pacific. The USA has not acceded to the ISA or the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Instead, the Trump administration refers to a 1980 US law on mining in international waters.
