The Trump administration is reportedly considering an executive order that would accelerate deep-sea mining in international waters by allowing companies to bypass a United Nations-backed review process.
The order, according to sources cited by Reuters, would affirm the United States’ right to extract critical minerals from the ocean floor, enabling companies to seek permits directly from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The move would mark President Donald Trump’s latest push to secure international sources of nickel, copper, and other essential minerals. It follows his recent invocation of emergency powers to boost domestic mineral production.
The International Seabed Authority (ISA), established in 1982 under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)—which the U.S. has not ratified—has spent years developing regulations for deep-sea mining.Â
In 2021, the…
