[Editor’s Note: Michael J. McDonald is an Assistant Director for Port Administration- American Samoa, and heads the ASG committee that leads American Samoa’s engagement on the critical issues of Deep Sea Minerals (DSM).] Dependence on adversarial or unreliable foreign sources for minerals essential to weapons systems, advanced electronics, and military platforms creates real vulnerability. American Samoa does not control the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). • Our strategic position as a possible transshipment and logistics hub for Pacific partner minerals becomes harder to advance. American Samoa would then face a different reality.