The United States may no longer require companies to disclose sources for gold and other potential “conflict minerals” – a move with potentially dire consequences for mineral-rich Democratic Republic of Congo.

Michael Piwowar, the acting chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), took expansive action on Friday to suspend enforcement of the auditing requirements linked to Dodd-Frank Section 1502. While it is unclear whether Piwowar could unilaterally make this move, it could effectively suspend enforcement of an important rule requiring companies to disclose sources for minerals they use, a critical step taken to combat the trade in conflict minerals that enrich abusive armed groups. In February, the Trump administration had threatened to suspend or revoke the rule entirely.

Arvind Ganesan, Business & Human Rights director at Human Rights Watch, testifies in front of the US Senate on April 5, 2017. © Human Rights Watch

As my colleague Arvind Ganesan testified at a US Senate hearing last week, this action would send exactly the wrong message to actors in Congo. The country is mired in a deep political and human rights crisis due to the failure to organize elections before the end of President Joseph Kabila’s constitutionally mandated two-term limit in December 2016. After significant pressure from the international community – including targeted US sanctions against top officials and other strong measures backed by the US Congress – President Kabila made some important concessions in an end-of-the year deal mediated by the Catholic Church. Yet implementation of the deal has stalled, as violence between militia groups and the Congolese security forces have escalated in many parts of the country, along with an alarming increase in human rights violations.

Suspending enforcement of the SEC rule sends a strong signal that the US is downgrading respect for human rights as a priority in US policy towards Congo. This could make it easier for abusive armed groups, factions of the security forces, and other opaque mafia-like networks allegedly linked to government officials to return to the lucrative mines in eastern Congo to finance their activities. This could spark new security problems throughout the volatile region.

Prominent US companies such as Intel, Apple, Tiffany, and Warren Buffett’s Richline Jewelers support Dodd-Frank 1502. They have invested a lot of time and money over the past five years to comply, and want to act responsibly. Eliminating 1502 would put them at a competitive disadvantage against less responsible companies.

This is a unique situation where major American companies, human rights groups, and many Congolese civil society organizations all want 1502 to stay. But the Trump administration doesn’t. The administration should consider those views and stop trying to get rid of 1502 when it should be supporting responsible companies and looking at holistic approaches to keeping conflict mineral revenues out of the hands of abusive armed groups.