Vowing to “counter China’s growing influence over seabed mineral resources,” the Trump administration is opening a new front against America’s chief geopolitical rival.

“Vast offshore seabed areas hold critical minerals and energy resources,” an April 24 presidential executive order states. “These resources are key to strengthening our economy, securing our energy future, and reducing dependence on foreign suppliers for critical minerals.”

The timing of the executive order is no coincidence. Though President Trump and his advisers recognized the strategic importance of rare earths and other critical minerals as early as his first term, the matter has become even more urgent. In retaliation for U.S. tariffs, China recently restricted the export of rare earths to the United States. And Beijing has leverage.

China is the source of 90 percent of the world’s rare-earth minerals. It extracts them at sites around the world and refines them at facilities in China. This vertical control of the global rare-earth supply chain gives Beijing a near monopoly over minerals that go into “everything from satellites and jet fighters to CT scanners and iPhones,” The Wall Street Journal notes.