The US President Donald Trump’s administration is drafting an executive order so that the US can stockpile deep-sea critical minerals for batteries from the Pacific Ocean, according to a report from the Financial Times.
The report, which cited people close to the matter, said the plans would include the extraction of potato sized nodules containing nickel, cobalt, copper and manganese.
These could be added to the existing federal stockpiles of crude oil and metals, according to the Financial Times.
It would be a move done specifically to counter Chinese predominance in this area, it said.
China produces around 90% of the global rare earth minerals used in the defence, electric vehicle, clean energy and electronics industries, according to Reuters.
Alexander Gray, an expert on Asia who was part of Trump’s first administration, told the Financial Times that it is essential the US government focus on the areas which pose greatest vulnerability to China’s ambitions.
The Chinese Foreign ministry responded to the plans saying that the US should not circumvent international law.
In a statement, the ministry said that the Seabed and its resources “are the common heritage of mankind.”
It also said any exploration and mining of mineral resources should follow the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the International Seabed Authority framework.
Although, the United States has not ratified the 1982 UN treaty, which first put forth the legal framework for seabed mining.
