America Looks Beneath The Waves As Critical Mineral Race Heads Offshore

August 31, 2026 11:27 AM ET Miles under the ocean, a trove of critical minerals could offer the U.S. a new front in its race for resources.The Trump administration is moving toward a potential critical mineral lease sale in federal waters near American Samoa, part of a broader effort to tap mineral deposits sitting thousands of feet beneath the Pacific. Federal surveys have already recovered nodules, balls of mineral-laden earth from the seafloor, while the administration has directed agencies to accelerate domestic exploration, collection and processing of seabed minerals.“America has spent decades worrying about China’s grip on critical minerals while standing on the shoreline of an extraordinary strategic resource,” Scott Segal, Scott Segal, a partner at energy-focused law firm Bracewel