Trump drops plan for 20% fee on cargo transiting Strait of Hormuz

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, July 14, that he had dropped plans to charge a 20% fee on cargo carried by vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, reversing a proposal he had announced the previous day.

Trump said the fee would be replaced by trade and investment agreements with several Persian Gulf countries. He added, however, that the U.S. naval blockade targeting Iran would remain in place.

On Monday, amid a renewed exchange of attacks with Iran, Trump announced that the United States would “take control” of the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important maritime routes for oil and gas shipments. The waterway runs along Iran’s southern coast.

Trump also said the United States would impose a fee equivalent to 20% of the value of cargo transported through the strait. The announcement sent oil prices sharply higher, pushing them to a one-month high.

“Based on highly productive conversations with Middle Eastern leaders, I have decided to replace the 20% reimbursement fee owed to the United States with trade and investment deals that several Gulf states will make in the United States,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Trump did not specify which Persian Gulf countries had committed to the agreements. He said their governments would make “massive” investments in the United States that would compensate for the revenue Washington had expected to collect from the proposed Hormuz fee.

About an hour later, Trump told a news conference that he did not believe anyone should be allowed to charge vessels for passing through the waterway.

“I don’t think anyone should be able to charge a fee. (…) I don’t like that idea, but at the same time, it isn’t fair that we are protecting this strait for the entire world,” he said.

No Persian Gulf government had confirmed the agreements as of the latest update to the report.

Gulf countries, many of which are strategic U.S. allies, have been among the main targets of Iran’s retaliatory attacks during the Middle East conflict.

The United States and Iran signed an agreement in June intended to end the conflict. The document established a ceasefire and provided a 60-day period for negotiations toward a lasting peace agreement. The truce collapsed last week, however, and the agreement was abandoned.

Reuters reported on Tuesday morning that it had reviewed a notification Trump sent to the U.S. Congress informing lawmakers that hostilities with Iran had resumed.

Naval blockade remains in place

Despite dropping the proposed fee, Trump said the U.S. plan to reinstate its naval blockade targeting Iran, scheduled to begin on Tuesday, would proceed.

Trump said the blockade would apply only to Iranian vessels and would extend along the country’s coastline.

The U.S. military said the renewed blockade, involving American warships, would begin on Tuesday afternoon.

The Strait of Hormuz is a maritime corridor roughly 50 kilometers wide that connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean.

Before the war, approximately 20% of the oil and gas traded worldwide passed through the area.

The peace memorandum signed by the United States and Iran, which has since been set aside, called for the waterway to reopen without charges for 60 days. During that period, Iran, Oman and Persian Gulf countries were expected to negotiate arrangements for the strait’s future administration.

Source: G1

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