"Executive order under review would bypass UN-backed body. International Seabed Authority has yet to set rules. NOAA would oversee permitting for deep-sea mining."
"The White House is weighing an executive order that would fast-track permitting for deep-sea mining in international waters and let mining companies bypass a United Nations-backed review process, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the deliberations.
If signed, the order would mark U.S. President Donald Trump's latest attempt to tap international deposits of nickel, copper and other critical minerals used widely across the economy after recent efforts in Greenland and Ukraine. Trump earlier this month also invoked emergency powers to boost domestic minerals production.
The International Seabed Authority - created by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which the U.S. has not ratified - has for years been considering standards for deep-sea mining in international waters, although it has yet to formalize them due to unresolved differences over acceptable levels of dust, noise and other factors from the practice.
Trump's deep-sea mining order is likely to stipulate that the U.S. aims to exercise its rights to extract critical minerals on the ocean's floor and let miners bypass the ISA and seek permitting through the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's mining code, according to the sources."
Ernest Scheyder and Jarrett Renshaw report for Reuters March 31, 2025.
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