Trump makes significant progress in advancing submarine mining in global waters

President Trump has ordered the US government to take a major step towards mining vast areas below the sea. This is a move opposed by almost every other country, taking into account international waters from international waters for this type of industrial activity.

The executive order, signed Thursday, will circumvent a decades-old treaty ratified by all major coastal states except the United States. This is the latest example of the Trump administration’s willingness to ignore international institutions, and is likely to spark protests from American rivals and allies.

The order “establishes the United States as a global leader in submarine mineral exploration and development within and outside the national jurisdiction.” Text released by the White House.

Trump’s order directs the promotion of mining permits in both the National Maritime and Atmospheric Administration’s international waters and US territory.

Part of the seabed is covered with potato-sized nodules containing valuable minerals such as nickel, cobalt and manganese. These are essential to advanced technologies that the United States considers to be important to economic and military security, but its supply chain is increasingly controlled by China.

No commercial scale submarine mining has been carried out to date. The technical hurdles were high and there were serious concerns about the environmental impact.

As a result, in the 1990s, most countries agreed to join independent international submarine authorities that dominate the seabed mining of international waters. The Trump administration is relying on the US as it is not a signator The vague 1980 law This allows the federal government to issue submarine mining permits in international waters.

Many countries want to see undersea mining become a reality. But so far, it has been that economic orders should not take priority over the risk that mining could damage fisheries and marine food chains, or that it could affect the essential role of the ocean in absorbing carbon dioxide that warms the planet from the atmosphere.

Trump’s order comes after years of delays at the ISA in setting up a regulatory framework for undersea mining. Authorities have not yet agreed to the set of rules.

The executive order paves the way for metal companies, a well-known undersea mining company, to receive the first permission from NOAA to actively mine. A public company based in Vancouver, British Columbia It was disclosed in March It would ask the Trump administration to approve it through a US subsidiary to mine in international waters. The company has already spent more than $500 million on exploratory work.

“We have production-ready boats,” Gerald Baron, the company’s chief executive, said in an interview Thursday. “We have the means to process materials in friendly partner nations of the Alliance. We are missing out on permission to allow us to start.”

In anticipation of mining as a final allowance, companies like him have invested heavily in developing technologies to mine the seabed. They include a ship with huge claws that stretch to the seabed, and a self-driving vehicle mounted on a giant vacuum cleaner that scrutinizes the bottom of the ocean.

Some analysts have questioned the need to rush towards submarine mining, given the current excess of nickel and cobalt from traditional mining. Furthermore, manufacturers of electric vehicle batteries, one of the main markets in metals, are heading towards battery designs that rely on other factors.

Nevertheless, the projection of future demand for metals generally remains high. And Trump’s escalating trade war with China threatens to limit America’s access to some of these important minerals. These include rare earth elements that can also be found in trace amounts of submarine nodules.

US Geological Survey It is estimated Nodules in a single belt of the Eastern Pacific, known as the Clarion Kriparton Zone, contain more nickel, cobalt and manganese than all ground reserves combined. The area in the open ocean between Mexico and Hawaii is about half the size of the continent of the United States.

The Metals Company’s contract site is located in the Clarion-Clipperton zone, with the oceans averaged around 2.5 miles deep. The company will first apply for exploitation permission under the 1980 law.