The Race to the Bottom: the USA's Renewed Interest in Deep-Sea Mining

In tight competition with China for energy and tech industry hegemony, many of Donald Trump’s first-hundred-days orders have focused on securing high value, critical minerals for the United States. After targeting Greenland for its rare earths and signing a natural resource deal with Ukraine, Trump has now signed an executive order facilitating the commercialization of deep-sea mining. 

A tractor mines polymetallic nodules on the ocean floor. (credit: Seatools)

Deep sea mining could be instrumental in energy and tech industries. Minerals like cobalt, manganese, zinc, iron, and copper are essential for computer chips, batteries, and solar panels, and while on-land deposits are scarce, 1 billion metric tons of these resources can be found in US waters alone. According to a US geological survey, the Clarion Clipperton Zone contains more nickel, cobalt, and manganese than all of the terrestrial reserves combined. They are mined using large tractor-sized machines along the sea floor which pick up concretions of minerals and transport them to the surface via long pipes, pumping sediment and dust back into the ocean after the sediments have been washed and separated. 

The executive order, signed on April 24th, 2025, instructed the secretary of commerce to expedite permitting procedures for exploration and commercial recovery of deep-sea resources, and called the secretary of the interior to establish processes for the appointment of deep-sea mining licenses within the US outer continental shelf. 

This order defies the general global consensus and recommendations of multiple global organizations, highlighting the unilateralism that has become characteristic of Trump’s presidency. It allows companies to bypass the regulations of the International Seabed Authority, a UN-backed regulatory commission with 168 member countries including every major coastal nation - except the USA. More than 30 countries, including Canada, France, and the UK, as well as 64 large corporations like Apple and Volkswagen, have opposed the commercial use of seabed minerals.

This criticism is primarily rooted in environmental concern: the little research done on deep sea mining’s effects has revealed potentially devastating consequences for aquatic fauna. The minerals are essential for many sea creatures’ survival: epifauna, that is animals that live on the seabed and attach themselves to submerged objects, rely on these rocks. The mining practices themselves are also highly disruptive, emitting sedimentary plumes which can smother and suffocate fauna as well as cause tissue damage. Finally, the light and noise pollution caused by the mining devices may further harm marine ecosystems.

Despite criticism and environmental concern, Trump has pushed deep sea mining forward. The White House insists that laws around the mining will ensure strong environmental protection standards and licenses will be given under the authority and with the compliance of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The first deep sea mining permit application has already been filed by the Metals Company, with CEO Gerard Barron arriving in Washington for a congressional hearing in front of the House Natural Resources Committee on the 28th of April.