April 2, 2025 — Vancouver, Canada-based seabed mining company The Metals Company (TMC) has announced that it is collaborating with the Trump administration to obtain authorization to mine the deep sea bed in international waters, in defiance of the United Nations’ International Seabed Authority (ISA).
The ISA was given jurisdiction over seabed mining in international waters by a 1994 treaty, ratified by 169 U.N. members states, including all major coastal economies, except the U.S.