The United States possesses the world’s largest coal reserves and is becoming an increasingly important global supplier, but its ability to expand offshore sales is heavily constrained by prohibitive regulatory burdens, tax structures and severe infrastructure bottlenecks on the West Coast, according to a report released, by the National Coal Council.

The report, titled “Outlook and Opportunities for U.S. Coal Exports,” was submitted to Energy Secretary Chris Wright by the council’s Coal Export Subcommittee. Written by NCC Chair James Grech, Vice Chair Jimmy Brock and Report Chair Rich Nolan, the report stresses that resource availability is not the issue limiting American energy potential abroad, but rather access to markets and restrictive domestic policies.

Global power demand and new steel production facilities in Asia are driving record coal consumption, with more than 1,200 new coal-generating units under development worldwide. Against this backdrop, the report argues that expanding U.S. exports offers a critical “energy hedge” for foreign allies while boosting the domestic economy, improving the U.S. trade balance and supporting tens of thousands of American jobs.

U.S. coal exports totaled 93 million short tons in 2025, down from 108 million short tons in 2024. Of the 2025 total, thermal coal accounted for 42.5 million tons, while metallurgical coal used in steelmaking accounted for 50.1 million tons. Despite the volume drop, exports generated an estimated $10.0 billion in revenue and supported more than 36,000 direct and indirect jobs across mining, rail, barge and port sectors.

The primary barrier to capitalizing on fast-growing Asian demand is the nation’s logistics infrastructure. East Coast ports, mainly Hampton Roads, Virginia, and Baltimore, Maryland, handled roughly 62% of all U.S. coal exports over the past five years. By contrast, the U.S. lacks a dedicated, high-capacity West Coast bulk export terminal. Western producers in regions like the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana are forced to rely heavily on cross-border rail logistics through Canadian ports, such as Westshore Terminals in British Columbia, or limited capacity at secondary terminals in California and Mexico.

To solve these constraints, the council highlighted President Donald Trump’s support for new West Coast export capacity, including the proposed Western Gateway Terminal in Oakland, California. Developers cleared key legal hurdles in late 2025 and are targeting 2028 for initial operations, supported by $75 million in Defense Production Act funding announced by the Trump administration on June 4, 2026. The report notes this facility is urgent given the planned closure of the Levin-Richmond Terminal in late 2026. The report also recommends exploring additional port capacity in the Pacific Northwest, Mexico’s Port of Guaymas and expanded capacity on the East Coast.

Logistical headwinds are further compounded by draft limitations at major U.S. harbors, which historically forced exporters to “light-load” large Capesize ocean vessels or pay for expensive offshore “top-off” transfers. The report praised the recent completion of the Norfolk Harbor Deepening Project in February 2026, which deepened the channel to 55 feet — making it the deepest on the East Coast — and the late 2025 deepening of the Port of Mobile in Alabama to 50 feet. However, it urged continued funding for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to modernize aging locks, dams and inland waterways, citing severe transportation disruptions in 2024 caused by structural failures at the Demopolis and Holt locks in Alabama.

International trade barriers have also volatilely impacted export figures. American sales to China plummeted by 92% in 2025 after Beijing levied retaliatory tariffs of up to 49% on U.S. coal. While exporters offset some of those losses by increasing shipments to India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia, the report calls for eliminating tariffs in key markets and negotiating new binding Agreements on Reciprocal Trade. It also advocates for embedding U.S. coal import targets into bilateral energy deals, similar to the February 2026 U.S.-India Strategic Energy Partnership, where India committed to buying $500 billion in U.S. energy products over five years.

To level the playing field against foreign competitors like Australia and Indonesia, the council recommended sweeping regulatory and fiscal reforms. Key recommendations include permanently suspending Section 301 maritime shipping fees on foreign-built bulk vessels, suspending the federal Abandoned Mine Land fee, evaluating further reductions to federal coal royalty rates below the recently enacted 7% cap and reforming state severance tax burdens.

Furthermore, the report calls for streamlining environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act, modernizing federal coal leasing Fair Market Value determinations and adopting International Electrotechnical Commission standards to accelerate the rollout of advanced mining equipment and safety technologies.

Looking beyond traditional power and steel markets, the report emphasizes emerging technological opportunities for U.S. coal. These include using coal as a chemical feedstock to produce synthetic graphite for batteries, coal-based carbon fiber for defense applications and extracting critical rare earth elements from coal seams, acid mine drainage and coal ash — a strategic push boosted by President Trump’s invocation of the Defense Production Act in March 2025 to reshore rare earth production.

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