In defiance of law and the environment, Donald Trump wants to open the underwater mining in international waters-Liberation

An environmental disaster in the making. Donald Trump signed a decree intended to open on Thursday April 24 Large -scale extraction of minerals in large ocean fundsincluding international waters. A questioning of The International Marine Funds Authority (AIFM), theoretically competent on the high seas. This strength of the US President Conspects, environmental protection associations, which alert on the damage that such exploitation would have on marine ecosystems.

The text asks the Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, « To accelerate the exam » of candidates « And the issuance of exploration and extraction permits » minerals « Beyond the courts » American. He also seized his secretary in the interior, Doug Burgum, to do the same for territorial waters. The decree also enjoins the Secretary of Commerce to prepare a report on « The feasibility of a sharing mechanism » the product of the seabed. According to a senior American official, the initiative would collect a billion tonnes of materials in ten years.

The AIFM, however, has a jurisdiction on the seabed of international waters, under agreements that the United States has never ratified, however. « By embarking on mining extraction in international waters, opposite the rest of the world, the government opens the way to other countries to do the same », reacted Jeff Watters, vice-president of the NGO Ocean Conservancy, in a press release. « And this will have negative consequences for all of us and for the oceans on which we depend », he warned.

No commercial mining extraction has yet taken place in the seabed, in the United States or elsewhere. Some states, however, have already granted exploration permits in their exclusive economic zones, notably Japan and the Cook Islands.

The Trump administration estimates that mining in deep waters could create 100,000 jobs and increase the United States gross internal product (GDP) over 300 billion in the United States. « We want the United States to predict China in this area, » explained an official of the American administration.

China which, for its part, estimated this Friday that the American project « Breai (Gnai) t international law » And « Nui (Sai) t in the interests of the international community as a whole ». A position that Beijing had already advanced last March, his Ministry of Foreign Affairs judging that no country was to overcome the AIFM and unilaterally authorize the underwater mining.

The extraction mainly concerns polymetallic nodules, kinds of pebbles placed on seabed, rich in minerals such as manganese, nickel, cobalt, copper or rare earths. These are Metals with very popular magnetic properties for electric vehiclessolar panels, but also smartphones and laptops. « The United States faces an unprecedented economic and national security challenge, namely the securing of its supplies of critical minerals without going through foreign opponents », This asserted Donald Trump’s decree.

The obsession with the delay vis-à-vis foreign competition and in particular Chinese does not date from yesterday. In 2023, 31 elected officials at the Congress, all Republicans, had sent a letter to the former defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, claiming that the Biden government allowed underwater mining. « We cannot let China assume and exploit the resources of the seabed », Had they wrote. A request that has remained a dead letter, in any case publicly.

The Canadian company The Metals Company (TMC) had in any case sniffed the right vein. Earlier in the year, she had expressed her intention to get around the AIFM and ask for the green light from the United States to start exploiting minerals on the high seas. The decree signed, his boss Gerard Barron was delighted, judging that he was scoring « The return of American leadership » in the field of underwater minerals. And add: « TMC is ready to implement the first commercial extraction project of polymetallic nodules in the world. » « This is a clear example of the prioritization of mining companies to the detriment of common sense », regretted Katie Matthews, of the Oceana ocean protection association.

The American states, however, be ready to fight against this federal decree. In Hawaii, Democratic Governor Josh Green ratified in July 2024 a text prohibiting mining extraction in the territorial waters of this State located in the middle of the Pacific.

Many environmental defense organizations oppose the collection of minerals, which they accuse of seriously threaten the marine ecosystem. « Trump is exposing One of the most fragile and unknown ecosystems to uncontrolled industrial exploitation ”, commented Emily Jeffers, lawyer for the center for biological diversity (CBD), recalling that more than 30 countries are favorable to a moratorium. « The high seas belongs to everyone, she added, And protecting it is a duty for humanity. ”