ISA Responds to U.S. Executive Order on Seabed Mining

The Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), Ms. Leticia Reis de Carvalho, has issued a formal response to the Executive Order signed by the President of the United States on April 25, 2025, titled “Unleashing America’s Offshore Critical Minerals and Resources.” The Order unequivocally outlines the intent of the United States to advance seabed mining, particularly targeting polymetallic nodules and coastal mineral deposits rich in strategic materials such as nickel, cobalt, copper, manganese, titanium, and rare earth elements.
Key Provisions of the Executive Order
Section 3 of the Order, entitled “Strategic Seabed Critical Mineral Access,” mandates the Secretary of Commerce to, within 60 days:
Initiate the issuance of exploration licenses and commercial recovery permits for seabed minerals in areas beyond national jurisdiction under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act (30 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.), ensuring the process is efficient, predictable, and competitive for U.S. companies.
Submit a report to the President’s economic advisors identifying:
Private sector interest and opportunities for seabed mineral exploration, extraction, and environmental monitoring:
on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf,
in areas beyond national jurisdiction,
and within the national jurisdictions of allied nations open to cooperation.
Processing capacity for polymetallic nodules and other seabed minerals within the U.S. or aboard U.S.-flagged vessels.
Additionally:
The Secretary of the Interior is tasked with engaging international partners to foster scientific collaboration and commercial opportunities, and to evaluate the feasibility of a benefit-sharing mechanism for activities in areas beyond national jurisdiction.
The Secretaries of Defense and Energy are directed to report on the viability of using the National Defense Stockpile for materials derived from seabed nodules and the possibility of entering offtake agreements.
Section 4 of the Order defines “seabed mineral resources” broadly, to include polymetallic nodules, cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts, polymetallic sulfides, heavy mineral sands, phosphorites, and other mineral-bearing materials.
ISA’s Response and Concerns
In a statement released on its website, the ISA noted that, while the Executive Order primarily addresses domestic policy, its explicit mention of activities in areas beyond national jurisdiction (the Area) directly implicates the legal and institutional framework established under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). This raises significant concerns for the ISA, being the body mandated under UNCLOS to regulate deep seabed mining in the Area.
The ISA highlighted that the United States, despite not having ratified UNCLOS, has been an active observer and major contributor to ISA deliberations for over three decades, consistently providing technical expertise and participating constructively in the development of its regulatory framework. It therefore noted that the recent move toward issuing U.S. commercial permits for exploitation in the Area represents a notable departure from this longstanding engagement.
The statement emphasised the importance of the UNCLOS, stating that it clearly defines the Area and its mineral resources as the Common Heritage of Humankind, and prohibits any state (nor any natural or juridical person) from claiming sovereignty or proprietary rights over any part of the Area. This includes prohibitions against unilateral appropriation or exploitation.
It further emphasised that the international community has broadly recognized UNCLOS as the cornerstone of global ocean governance, upholding maritime rights, protecting the environment, and providing a legal foundation for peaceful and equitable access to ocean resources. Even non-party states, like the United States, have benefited from its provisions, particularly those relating to navigational freedoms and exclusive economic zone claims.
In summary, the ISA emphasised the multilateral framework for ocean governance provided by the UNCLOS, (supported by 169 countries), which establishes that all mineral activities in the international seabed area (the “Area”) must be carried out under ISA oversight to ensure environmental protection, equitable benefit-sharing, and legal legitimacy. No state, even non-parties to UNCLOS, may claim or exploit resources from the Area unilaterally.
Furthermore, the statement reads:
“It is worth noting that the US Executive Order refers to “Unleashing America’s Offshore Minerals and Resources”. However, this can only refer to resources found on the US seabed and ocean floor because everything beyond is the common heritage of humankind. This means that we are all stakeholders to what happens in the deep sea. It also means that any unilateral action not only threatens this carefully negotiated treaty, and decades of successful implementation and international cooperation, but also sets a dangerous precedent that could destabilize the entire system of global ocean governance”.
Importantly, the statement addressed the charge that the ISA has excessively delayed concluding the mining code by reminding those making the allegations of the level of legal complexity of work requiring negotiations involving 169 countries and in which foundational concepts such as “common heritage” and global “benefit sharing” are being implemented, with many interests at stake, but overall, dealing with a common good which belongs to all. It affirmed that such will never be easy; and accounts for why the advancement of the exploitation regulations and the Mining Code are taking time for countries to develop, and agree.
Also, the ISA rejected “any allegation that the Authority [ISA] is in any way biased towards environmental groups, causing delays and a disadvantage to developing countries, stating that such perspective is naive and disrespects the hard work of Member States in a highly complex negotiation. And that such “also misrepresents the very spirit of UNCLOS, which is to ensure that developing countries are fully heard and that their inputs have equal weight with developed countries who have already had full advantage over the world’s resources through their economic influence and technological prowess”.
In closing, ISA Secretary-General invited “the Government of the United States to channel its efforts toward developing a leading role in deep-sea science, technology, and seabed mineral resource activities through the institutional and legal frameworks established by the international community under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a treaty that enjoys broad global recognition and legitimacy”.  And submitted that the advantages for the United States in engaging through the international legal system are substantial and far outweigh the potential risks and challenges associated with unilateral action across the chain, from intergovernmental relations to investment security.
 
Looking Ahead
The developments prompted by this Executive Order raise complex legal, political, and environmental questions. As deep-sea mining edges closer to commercial reality, the coming months and years will be pivotal in determining how international law, national interests, and global governance intersect on the ocean floor.