Overview

• ISA head Leticia Carvalho criticized President Trump's executive order to expedite U.S. deep-sea mining permits under a decades-old domestic law.
• Carvalho stated that no state has the right to exploit seabed resources outside the legal framework established by UNCLOS, which the U.S. has not ratified.
• The ISA is working to finalize a rulebook for deep-sea mining to balance economic interests with environmental protection amid growing international tensions.
• The Trump administration’s move has sparked global criticism, including from Paris and Beijing, for bypassing multilateral governance frameworks.
• Experts warn that unilateral U.S. actions could set a dangerous precedent, undermining international cooperation and risking irreversible harm to marine ecosystems.