President
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 US Outer Continental Shelf, the president is also setting in motion potential seabed mining within US coastal waters. Under Trump’s order, Interior Secretary
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 US National Defense Stockpile for minerals contained within sea deposits and an assessment of private-sector interest in the activity.
The order directs the
Trump’s directive comes amid
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
Economic Opportunities
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 US 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.
Earlier:
Mining advocates have warned that without action, the US and allies risk forfeiting seabed mineral extraction to China. In a report earlier this month, RAND estimated that production from seabed mining would decrease metal prices and could produce enough nickel and cobalt to meet projected US demand in 2040. The materials are essential ingredients in lithium-ion batteries.
Trump’s order is expected to benefit
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 US effectively circumventing the International Seabed Authority — has been criticized as a violation of the UN 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.
Habitat Threat
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.
Earlier:
The Law of the Sea Treaty established the ISA, but since the US is not a signatory, conservatives have argued the US government should not voluntarily submit to it. That treaty also reserved some mining areas in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone for the US in case the country eventually acceded to the convention. The US in turn enacted the deep sea mineral resources law, which spells out procedures for US 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 US permits. TMC Chief Executive Officer
“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.
(Updates with comment from China’s Foreign Ministry in 8th paragraph.)
--With assistance from
To contact the reporters on this story:
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Meghashyam Mali, John Harney
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