Trump moves to ramp up deep-sea mining for critical minerals
U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order intended to accelerate offshore mining and open new opportunities for extracting critical materials from the ocean floor despite the objections of environmentalists.
The measure directs the Commerce Department to speed up reviewing and issuing permits for exploration and commercial recovery under a 1980 law, according to senior White House officials who briefed reporters on the action Thursday.
While the permits could cover territory far beyond the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf, the president is also setting in motion potential seabed mining within U.S. coastal waters. Under Trump's order, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is charged with establishing a process for approving permits and granting licenses for seabed mining in U.S. waters, under the same law that has long governed oil drilling there.
The White House in a fact sheet cast the order as one of several steps Trump has taken "positioning the United States at the forefront of critical mineral production and innovation.'
The president is also ordering a raft of reports, including a study of using the U.S. National Defense Stockpile for minerals contained within sea deposits and an assessment of private-sector interest in the activity.
The order directs the U.S. International Development Finance Corp. and the U.S. Export-Import Bank to study options for providing financing and other support for exploration, extraction, processing and environmental monitoring of seabed resources.
Trump's directive comes amid increasing concern over new Chinese curbs on the export of rare-earth materials used in electric vehicle batteries, smartphones and other technology, a response to Trump's tariffs. China's moves have generated worries about obtaining alternate supplies for the metals given the country's dominance in mining and refining them.
The executive order drew fire from Beijing. Trump's plan breaks international law because it will apply to areas of the sea floor that "do not belong to any country,' China Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Friday at a daily press briefing.
Deep-sea mining is seen by the administration as another avenue for extracting rare-earth elements such as manganese, cobalt, nickel and copper, helping wean the U.S. off foreign suppliers and opening new export opportunities. Over 10 years, a seabed mineral extraction industry could yield 100,000 jobs and hundreds of billions of dollars in economic benefits, one of the White House officials said.
Mining advocates have warned that without action, the U.S. and allies risk forfeiting seabed mineral extraction to China. In a report earlier this month, the Rand Corp. estimated that production from seabed mining would decrease metal prices and could produce enough nickel and cobalt to meet projected U.S. demand in 2040. The materials are essential ingredients in lithium-ion batteries.
Trump's order is expected to benefit The Metals Company (TMC), which for years has sought to collect mineral-rich deposits that cover the seafloor in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, international waters in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Mexico. The Vancouver-based company's push has been complicated by a long-running debate over potential regulations from the United Nations-affiliated International Seabed Authority that governs the region.
TMC said last month it was pursuing exploration licenses and commercial recovery permits from the Trump administration under the 45-year-old Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act.
Any move to approve permits — with the U.S. effectively circumventing the International Seabed Authority — has been criticized as a violation of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea that established the body. It also threatens to disrupt more than a decade of negotiations to enact regulations that would allow mining to commence.
Environmentalists are seeking stiffer international regulation of deep-sea mining, warning that the activity could imperil key marine habitats and the organisms that live on the ocean bottom.
The Law of the Sea Treaty established the ISA, but since the U.S. is not a signatory, conservatives have argued the U.S. government should not voluntarily submit to it. That treaty also reserved some mining areas in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone for the U.S. in case the country eventually acceded to the convention. The U.S. in turn enacted the deep sea mineral resources law, which spells out procedures for U.S. companies to gain access to materials there.
TMC holds two ISA licenses to prospect for cobalt, nickel and other metals found in polymetallic nodules — potato-sized rocks rich in those materials. TMC and other ISA-licensed companies, however, can't begin mining until the organization develops regulations to govern the practice.
The company has defended its move to seek U.S. permits. TMC Chief Executive Officer Gerard Barron said in a statement last month that the company had complied with the terms of its ISA contract but the organization failed to fulfill its duty under the treaty to enact regulations.
"I'm not sure why ISA member states act surprised that TMC is now looking at an alternative, longstanding regulatory regime,' he said at the time.
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