US Mining and Energy Extraction Sector NAICS 21

May 14, 2025 - NIOSH Cuts Threaten Miner Safety

• Cuts to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, threaten miners’ safety just as the Trump administration is seeking to expand mining in the US, NPR reports. The president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) condemned the cuts, stating “This is not just an attack on jobs. This is an attack on the very foundation of worker safety in the United States of America.” The UMWA president said the dismantling of the Respiratory Disease Division at NIOSH eliminates the nation’s leading defense against black lung disease and other respiratory illnesses that afflict miners. In March, President Trump signed an executive order fast tracking permitting and expanding mining in the US. The cuts at NIOSH followed soon after. More mining means more miners to protect. However, miners' protections are being stripped away, says the UMWA.
• US exports of crude oil reached record levels in 2024, surpassing the previous record set in 2023, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported in April. The nation’s crude exports exceeded an annual average of 4.1 million barrels per day (b/d). Despite the new record, crude oil export year-over-year growth slowed to 1% last year, compared with 14% in 2023 and 21% in 2022. Record production creates a greater supply of crude oil to export. Increased production efficiency is making up for a decrease in the number of active oil rigs, resulting in production increasing 3% last year, according to the EIA. Europe and the Asia/Oceania region remained the top regional destinations for US crude exports in 2024, with exports to Europe up significantly since 2021 due in part to the banning of seaborne crude oil imports from Russia.

• President Trump has a deal for Europe: In return for tariff relief, buy $350 billion of US energy products – an amount nearly equal to the value of all the oil and gas the EU imported last year – The Wall Street Journal reports. EU member countries imported around $420 billion of oil, natural gas and coal from various countries in 2024, including a substantial amount from the US, according to WSJ. To reach Trump’s $350 billion target means the US would replace most of the EU’s other suppliers in Norway, North Africa, and the Middle East. “The possibility of the EU buying more American energy to get tariff relief is a myth that needs to be debunked,” Simone Tagliapietra, a senior fellow at the Brussels-based think tank Bruegel, told WSJ. Moreover, Europe has been reducing its reliance on fossil fuels as it transitions to renewable energy sources.
• President Trump has signed an executive order aimed at accelerating deep-sea mining in international waters by allowing companies to bypass a United Nations-backed review process, according to a White House fact sheet. The EO, signed in April, affirms the US’s right to extract critical minerals from the ocean floor, enabling companies to bypass the International Seabed Authority and seek permits directly from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It gives mining companies a formal permitting process to complete and avoid the potential perception that they aim to mine the ocean's floors without any oversight. The EO marks Trump’s latest attempt to capture international deposits of nickel, copper, and other critical minerals following recent efforts to tap resources in Greenland and Ukraine.