Trump's seabed strategy: Challenging China's rare earth grip

• Donald Trump plans to gather metals from the seabed to counter China's dominance in the supply chains of batteries and rare earth minerals.
• The US administration is preparing an executive order that will allow the collection of metals from the Pacific seabed, helping to increase the US's self-sufficiency in these resources.
• The planned actions include expediting applications for mining and creating national processing infrastructure for these metals.

Donald Trump's administration is preparing an executive order that will enable the collection of metals from the Pacific seabed. The goal is to counter China's dominance in the supply chains of batteries and rare earth minerals. These metals, including nickel, cobalt, copper, and manganese, are crucial for producing batteries, electrical wiring, and ammunition.

Alexander Gray, an expert on Asia and chief of staff to the US National Security Advisor in Trump's first administration, mentioned that the White House's focus on deep-sea mining is logical as China increasingly sees the deep seabed as a frontline of economic and military competition with the United States, the newspaper notes.

The USA aims to increase its self-sufficiency in critical minerals. The Trump administration is considering speeding up the mining process and creating national processing infrastructure for these metals as part of this plan. Influential Republicans, such as Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz, support these efforts, viewing them as a way to counterbalance China's ambitions.

Another way to boost domestic reserves is to sign an agreement with Ukraine. However, the negotiations are dragging on, and Trump's new proposals are delaying their ultimate success.

Despite enthusiasm among Republicans, the USA is not participating in international negotiations on seabed mining. Opponents argue that mining could harm unknown forms of life in depth and also question whether creating a supply chain comparable to China's is possible.