Donald Trump signed on Thursday, April 24, a decree destined to open the large large -scale extraction of minerals in the large oceanic funds, even in international waters, a questioning of the International Authority of Marine Funds (AIFM), theoretically competent in the high seas.
This passage from the US president is bristling with environmental protection associations, which alert about the damage that such exploitation would have in marine ecosystems.
The text asks the Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, “to accelerate the examination of” candidates “and the issuance of exploration and extraction permits” of minerals “beyond the US jurisdictions.
He also seized the Interior Minister, Doug Burgum, to do the same for territorial waters.
On one billion tons of materials extracted
The initiative should make it possible to collect one billion tons of materials in ten years, said a senior US official.
AIFM has a jurisdiction at the bottom of the Sea of International Waters, under agreements that the United States has never ratified. Contacted, AIFM did not follow up immediately.
The decree also orders the Secretary of Commerce to prepare a report on “the viability of an exchange mechanism” of the marine background product.
“By embarking on the mining extraction in international waters, in front of the rest of the world, the government opens the way to other countries to do the same,” Jeff Watters, vice president of the NGO Ocean Conservancy reacted, in a statement.
“And that will have negative consequences for all of us and for the oceans we depend on,” he warned.
There has not yet an extraction of commercial mining at the bottom of the sea, in the United States or in other places.
However, some states have already granted exploration permits in their exclusive economic zones, in particular Japan and the Cook Islands.
A contribution of 300 billion to GDP
The Trump government estimates that deep water mining could create 100,000 jobs and increase the Gross Nomental of the United States (GDP), for more than 10 years, at $ 300 billion, an official said.
“We want the United States to predict China in this area,” said the source.
Extraction refers mainly to polymetallic nodules, types of pebbles placed in the seabed, rich in minerals such as manganese, nickel, cobalt, copper or rare earth.
These are metals with very popular magnetic properties for electric vehicles, solar panels, but also smartphones and laptops.
“The United States faces an unprecedented economic and economic security challenge, that is, ensuring its critical mineral supplies without going through foreign opponents,” said the decree.
In 2023, 31 elected officials in Congress, all Republicans, had sent a letter to the Minister of Defense, Lloyd Austin, claiming that the Biden government allowed underwater mining.
“We cannot let China assume and exploit the resources of the seabed,” they wrote. The government had not responded publicly.
After the publication, in March, of an article in Financial Times, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had considered that no country should exceed AIFM and unilaterally authorize underwater mining.
Environmental defenders oppose the project
The Canadian company The Metals Company (TMC) announced in 2025 its intention to avoid AIFM asking for the green light of the United States soon to start using minerals on the high seas.
For his boss, Gerard Barron, the decree “marks the return of American leadership” in the field of underwater minerals, he said in a reaction transmitted to AFP.
“TMC is ready to implement the first commercial extraction project of polymetallic nodules in the world,” he added.
In July 2024, Hawaii’s Democratic governor, Josh Green, ratified a text that prohibits mining extraction in the territorial waters of this state located in the Pacific media.
Many environmental organizations oppose the collection of minerals, which accuse of seriously threatening the marine ecosystem.
“Trump is exposing one of the most fragile and unknown ecosystems to unusual industrial exploitation,” said Emily Jeffers, an organic diversity lawyer (CBD), remembering that more than 30 countries are favorable for a moratorium.
“The high seas belongs to all,” he added, “and protecting it is a duty for humanity.”
Source: BFM TV
