President Trump signed an executive order to boost the U.S. deep-sea mining industry for critical minerals. Supporters say deep-sea mining could boost the U.S. economy and reduce reliance on land-based mines, while environmental groups warn of biodiversity loss. The move comes amid U.S. efforts to decrease reliance on China for critical minerals.

The Executive Order mandates the rapid development of US capabilities in the exploration, characterisation, collection and processing of critical deep seabed minerals.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to accelerate offshore mining and open new opportunities for extracting critical materials from the seabed. Within 60 days of the date of this order,