The administration moves to sidestep U.N. body governing the ocean floor and the harvesting of minerals and metals in international waters.

California-based company Impossible Metals asked the Trump administration earlier this month to auction off mining leases for areas off the coast of American Samoa, which would be within US-controlled waters. Trump’s executive order also directs the Secretary of the Interior to expedite the process for leasing areas for mining within US waters.

In his latest move to secure supplies of critical raw materials, the US president has instructed federal officials to expedite the opening up of America’s continental shelf to mining companies, and in a potentially explosive move,