President Donald Trump said Monday that the United States would impose fees in the Strait of Hormuz “at the rate of 20% on all goods shipped”, after declaring America “guardian” of the great oil shipping route.
Trump, in a Truth on social mediaalso said that the United States would reimpose its blockade of Iranian ports near the strait, the epicenter of the rapid re-escalation of the war between the United States and Tehran.
The United States has rejected Iran’s claims to the strait and its plans to charge ships passing through him. But rather than calling for the strait to be returned to its pre-war status as a toll-free international waterway, Trump’s message asserts that commercial ships attempting to transit must now pay protection money to the United States.
Oil prices jumpedAnd stock indices fellfollowing Trump’s announcement.
The strait, which hosted 20% of the world’s oil trade before being blocked at the start of the war in late February, “is OPEN and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran,” Trump wrote in his message.
All countries other than Iran “shall have fair and open use of the Strait,” Trump wrote. The assertion comes amid renewed firefights between the United States and Iran that have put the prospect of a peace deal even further out of reach, as once again slowdown in tanker traffic in the strait to a net.
“The United States will henceforth be known as ‘THE GUARDIAN OF THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ,'” he said. “But as such, and in the interest of FAIRNESS, we will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20% on all goods shipped, for all costs necessary to ensure the safety and security of this very unstable part of the world.”
“The process and training will begin immediately,” he added.
Much of the proposed refund policy was unclear. The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s questions about Trump’s message.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an X post Monday afternoon that Iran, not the United States, controls the strait and deserves “to be paid for this service.”
“20% is of course too much. We will be fair,” Araghchi wrote.
The United Nations International Maritime Organization, which regulates shipping, said after Trump’s message that it “strongly opposes the imposition of fees for passage through straits used for international shipping.”
“There is no legal basis for introducing mandatory tolls simply for transiting a strait,” the organization said in a statement to CNBC.
It is not unprecedented for the United States to provide protection services to ships in the Persian Gulf: it did so for Kuwaiti ships under fire from Iran. in the 1980sFor example.
But imposing a 20% tax on ships is “a pretty exorbitant level,” especially since “it’s not clear whether the United States can provide safe passage in the first place,” said David Goldwyn, president of Goldwyn Global Strategies and a former special envoy for the U.S. State Department during the Obama administration.
“If the United States could have escorted the ships safely and ensured there was no threat from Iran, we would have seen this happening over the last few weeks,” Goldwyn told CNBC in a telephone interview. “So I think it’s really just bluster.”
Trump telegraphed the political announcement in a Fox News interview earlier Monday morning, when he said the United States was “going to get paid to guard” the strait.
“We’re going to keep the Strait and we’re probably going to manage it,” Trump said.
“We will become the guardian of the Straits – maybe we will call it the guardian angel of the Straits,” Trump told Fox. “And we should be reimbursed for that.”
“We cannot be expected to do this for nothing, as we have done for many years,” he added. “We kept it for nothing, and now we’re going to keep it, we’re going to get paid to keep it. A lot of money.”
Read more about CNBC’s politics coverageSince the start of the conflict, Iran has announced plans to impose tolls or other fees on ships transiting the waterway — a scenario the United States has rejected.
The temporary ceasefire agreement signed by the United States and Iran in mid-June explicitly prohibited Tehran from imposing taxes on commercial ships transiting the strait.
But that deal has been so undermined by repeated attacks in the region that Trump said last week that the ceasefire was “over.”
Trump has previously raised the possibility of the United States charging money for commercial ships transiting the strait.
Days after signing the 60-day ceasefire agreement, Trump wrote on Social truth that there will be no tolls “unless imposed by and for the United States of America, if the agreement is not reached, for services rendered as a guardian angel to the countries of the Middle East for the purpose of reimbursement of past, present and future costs.”
His latest comments show him redoubling his efforts following the erosion of the ceasefire.
— CNBC Spencer Kimball contributed to this report.
