Trump Executive Order Sparks Deep-Sea Mining Gold Rush

President Donald Trump issued an executive order in April 2025 to accelerate the licensing of seabed mining. The initiative aims to counter China's dominance over critical minerals essential for electric-vehicle batteries, triggering a surge of activity among startups seeking to extract polymetallic nodules from the ocean floor.

Following the order, The Metals Company filed the first application to mine international waters, while Impossible Metals applied for a license to operate in U.S. waters off American Samoa. However, the push faces significant obstacles, including a lack of domestic metallurgical capacity to process the minerals and hesitation from technology partners like Allseas and Pacific Metals Company over regulatory risks.

The International Seabed Authority and several member nations have condemned the move as a unilateralist hegemonic act that violates the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The ISA warned that bypassing its oversight creates both legal and economic risks, while U.S. proponents argue the country has a right to pursue these resources for energy security.