Media Report: In a bid to weaken China’s near-monopoly, Washington looks to advance controversial ocean-floor extraction.
The U.S. government is reportedly preparing an executive order that would pave the way for stockpiling critical metals sourced from the Pacific Ocean seabed. According to the Financial Times (paywall), which cited individuals familiar with the matter, these resources—including nickel, cobalt, and rare earth elements—are intended to supplement the nation’s existing petroleum and metal reserves.
Deep-sea mining remains a highly controversial topic. Numerous countries, including Germany, advocate for a moratorium on this form of resource extraction until its ecological impacts on marine ecosystems are better understood. Meanwhile, others, such as the U.S. and China, are pressing ahead with deep-sea mining initiatives. These latest U.S. plans are seen in the broader context of strategic rivalry between the two global powers.
Washington has long sought to reduce its heavy dependence on mineral imports from Asia, particularly from China. Just days ago, Beijing imposed tighter export controls on certain rare earth elements—seen as a countermeasure to the sweeping U.S. import tariffs. Deep-sea mining, some argue, is a logical step for the U.S. to keep pace with China in the global race to explore the Pacific’s resource-rich seabed. The Financial Times quoted Alexander Gray, Asia expert and former official in the first Trump administration, who described the initiative as a strategic move.
However, industry experts remain skeptical. The real bottleneck, they argue, isn’t access to raw materials but the lack of domestic processing capacity. “Stockpiling unrefined materials doesn’t strengthen America’s supply chains or its defense industry,” wrote Ashley Zumwalt-Forbes, former deputy director for batteries and critical materials at the U.S. Department of Energy, in a social media post.
Photo: Remains via Canva
