US EditionTrump's Drive for Ocean Bed Mining Threatens Law of the Sea
- In April 2025, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order aimed at expediting the approval process for permits related to seabed mining activities both within US waters and in international ocean regions.
- Trump referenced a little-known 1980 US statute to circumvent international agreements such as the Law of the Sea treaty, which the United States has not formally adopted but typically respects.
- The Canadian company The Metals Company submitted a request in the United States to carry out commercial mining activities in international ocean areas, circumventing the regulatory oversight of the International Seabed Authority and raising concerns among the global community.
- Experts cautioned that Trump's directive might undermine the established system of global ocean governance. ISA secretary Leticia Carvalho warned that taking action unilaterally sets a risky precedent, while economist Guy Standing described the move as the most perilous decision Trump has made to date.
- This move raises risks of competing sovereignty claims over the ocean, potentially unraveling marine law protections and allowing major powers to divide critical areas like the Arctic.
52 Articles
52 Articles
Trump tells UK to get rid of unsightly windmills and open North Sea to modern drilling
President Donald Trump on Truth Social has strongly criticized UK’s energy policy of pursuing renewables and further taxing North Sea oil and gas operators. In a piece published in OilPrice he suggests getting rid of “costly and unsightly windmills”.
The door that Donald Trump opened to deep-sea mining, criticized by environmentalists, could pose a threat to ocean governance, according to experts who question the right of the United States to take this step without international control.From navigational norms to the exploitation of resources, maritime law is largely governed by UNCEDM, the United Nations Convention on the subject adopted in 1982 in an attempt to avoid “a ruthless struggle” …
News24 | Trump’s order on deep-sea mining ‘could lead to the disintegration’ of maritime law
US President Donald Trump’s move to sidestep global regulations and begin pushing for seabed mining in international waters could pose a wider threat of competing countries claiming sovereignty over the ocean, experts say.
Editorial: Wrong to degrade marine monument | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
The Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (PRIMNM) was established by President George W. Bush in 2009, protecting an area surrounding Wake, Baker, Howland and Jarvis islands, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef and Palmyra Atoll, to the south and west of Hawaii. In doing so, the Republican president recognized its irreplaceable and unmatchable nature.
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