President Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States will restore its naval blockade of Iranian shipping and impose a 20 percent fee on all other cargo transiting the Strait of Hormuz, sharply escalating a dispute over control of the world’s most important oil corridor.
Trump called the tax a payback for costs of guarding the waterway. It painted the United States as the strait’s protector, responsible for defending a volatile stretch of water. The fee would apply to all cargo moving through the strait. The fee would be imposed immediately, he said.
The announcement, made in a Truth Social post and echoed in a Fox News interview, was apart from the blockade and general shipping traffic. Only Iranian ships and their customers would be barred from entering or leaving, Trump said, while other nations would keep open use of the strait.
Almost one-fifth of the world’s energy exports passed through the Strait of Hormuz before the US-Israel-Iran war broke out. The narrow channel separates Iran from Oman and serves as the main sea passage out of the Gulf for most regional oil
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