President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order aimed at boosting the deep-sea mining industry, marking his latest attempt to boost U.S. access to nickel, copper and other critical minerals used widely across the economy…The order, which Trump signed in private, seeks to jumpstart the mining of both U.S. and international waters as part of a push to offset China's sweeping control of the critical minerals industry…More than 1 billion metric tons of those nodules are estimated to be in U.S. waters and filled with manganese, nickel, copper and other critical minerals, according to an administration official…"The United States has a core national security and economic interest in maintaining leadership in deep-sea science and technology and seabed mineral resources," Trump said in the order…The order directs the administration to expedite mining permits under the Deep Seabed Hard Minerals Resource Act of 1980 and to establish a process for issuing permits along the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf…It also orders the expedited review of seabed mining permits "in areas beyond the national jurisdiction," a move likely to spark friction with the international community…The International Seabed Authority - created by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which the U.S. has not ratified - has for years been considering standards for deep-sea mining in international waters, although it has yet to formalize them due to unresolved differences over acceptable levels of dust, noise and other factors from the practice…Any country can allow deep-sea mining in its own territorial waters, roughly up to 200 nautical miles from shore, and companies are already lining up to mine U.S. waters…U.S. access to critical minerals - especially those produced by Chinese companies - has dwindled in recent months as Beijing has limited exports of several types. That, in turn, has ratcheted up pressure on Washington to support efforts to boost domestic mining.

The world is rapidly shifting to clean energy, and this is changing how we power our lives. Technologies like solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicles (EVs) need a lot more minerals than traditional fossil fuel systems…Meanwhile, along with this clean energy transition, AI is the new player that is adding more pressure to global mineral supplies. IEA’s latest Energy and AI report shows that the rapid growth of AI and digital infrastructure is increasing demand for key materials already needed by the energy sector…This means data centers, which power AI, rely on a wide range of critical minerals, many of which overlap with clean energy technologies…Each clean energy tool depends on specific minerals. Batteries need lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, and graphite. Amongst all, lithium is the key to making lithium-ion batteries, which power backup systems in data centers. These batteries help keep things running during power outages…Similarly, wind turbines and EV motors use rare earth elements for their magnets. Copper and aluminum are key for power lines and grids…IEA predicts that by the 2040s, clean energy could account for over 40% of copper and rare earth use, 60–70% of cobalt and nickel use, and nearly 90% of lithium use…However, figuring out exactly how much mineral demand AI growth will create isn’t easy. That’s because there’s limited detailed data on what types of chips, processors, cooling systems, and storage equipment different data centers use…Building and running data centers isn’t just about electricity. These digital hubs need large amounts of copper, aluminum, silicon, gallium, rare earth elements, and battery minerals…Looking ahead, defense, clean energy, construction, aviation, and AI will all be competing for the same limited mineral resources…One major issue with critical minerals is that most of the world’s supply comes from just a few countries…This heavy concentration makes global supply chains vulnerable. If something disrupts production, like extreme weather, accidents, trade conflicts, or political tensions, it could lead to serious shortages…These risks aren’t just hypothetical…China also added controls on graphite, followed by even more limits in early 2025 on tungsten, tellurium, bismuth, indium, and molybdenum. These minerals are key for advanced tech, defense tools, and data centers. And the trade war continues with Trump imposing huge tariffs on Chinese imports.

Way back in 1992, on a visit to Inner Mongolia, China's then-leader Deng Xiaoping uttered what has since proven to be a visionary declaration…"The Middle East has its oil, China has rare earths," he famously quipped…For a largely agrarian nation, which at that stage was still grappling with the aftermath and horrors of the Cultural Revolution, it was a bold step towards achieving his 1986 ambition of transforming China into a high-tech superpower…Deng envisioned a China with a dominance in rare earths that would transcend the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) power over oil…It was an idea that went way beyond the simple extraction of minerals…It also incorporated the refining of rare earths, research into their use and, in more recent years, their deployment in highly specialised applications…As a result, China now dominates the entire rare earths ecosystem, right down to the production of the super-hard magnets required for everything from weapons systems, to the robotics essential for delivering the future of manufacturing…After US President Donald Trump launched his tariff war on China, with imposts rising to 145 per cent, Beijing slapped a ban on the export of heavy rare earths to the US, the very elements that are vital not only to America's military defence systems but to its continued lead in high-tech industries…While almost any mineral element can be regarded as a "critical mineral", the term is usually reserved for elements crucial for battery development or renewable energy sources…However, the term is largely restricted to minerals like lithium, nickel and cobalt, which are key components in battery manufacture…In the last few years, China has taken dominant roles in nickel, cobalt and lithium, particularly in refining…Once a major global nickel producer, Australia in the past two years has shut down all its mines, following a price crash that rendered them uncompetitive…In recent years Indonesia, which has suddenly become the biggest producer on the planet, has taken the dominant role — overwhelmingly, however, that has been achieved with Chinese investment…Lithium prices too have crashed…Few major players are now making a profit…When it comes to refining, China churns out 68 per cent of the world's nickel, 40 per cent of copper, 59 per cent of lithium, and 73 per cent of cobalt…That's allowed it to gain a stranglehold over battery production and, increasingly, electric vehicles…Where America has control of the global financial system, China has aimed for domination and control of metal production and high-tech applications.

Chinese automakers and foreign rivals are launching ever more advanced long-range hybrids to meet rising demand in the world's largest auto market…Unlike many other major markets, China treats EVs and hybrids as one "new energy vehicle" sector where brands are competing to give consumers an array of electrified options with longer driving ranges…At the Shanghai auto show this week, for instance, Geely unit Zeekr unveiled the 9X - a large plug-in hybrid SUV that can travel on electric power alone for 400 km (249 miles) before its gasoline engine kicks in. That range is nearly as long as many fully electric vehicles and far longer than typical plug-in hybrids in the United States, Europe and other markets…Chinese automakers have also developed a thriving business in so-called extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs), which have small petrol engines that serve only as a generator to extend the range of their large batteries…Both EREVs and plug-in hybrids grew faster than pure EVs in the China market last year, pushing the whole electrified sector to about half of all new cars sold, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association…EREV sales jumped 79% to 1.2 million vehicles and plug-in hybrids soared by 76% to 3.4 million, while EV sales grew 23% to 6.3 million units…Fully electric models grew faster than both varieties of hybrids in the first quarter of this year and still lead China's new-energy sector. But the hybrid boom in China and globally has more traditional automakers adding gasoline-electric models to their lineups after previously focusing solely on expanding EV offerings.