Trump says US will blockade Hormuz and charge a 20 percent shipping toll
President Trump said on July 13 that the United States would reimpose a naval blockade on Iran in the Strait of Hormuz and position itself as the waterway’s “guardian,” levying a 20 percent toll on all cargo transiting the passage to reimburse Washington for the cost of securing it. He said the measures would take effect immediately, with the blockade aimed at Iranian vessels and their customers.
Roughly a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil and gas moves through the strait, so a toll on that traffic would function as a levy on a large share of global energy trade and could be passed through to prices. Iran’s military rejected US authority over the waterway, said it would not allow Washington to interfere with passage, and warned regional states that helping the United States would be treated as an act of war.
The announcement escalates a standoff that resumed after the June US-Iran framework to halt hostilities broke down over disagreements about how the strait would be managed. Both sides have since traded attacks — Iran striking regional bases and firing drones at commercial ships, the US hitting Iranian ports and military targets — while each disputes the other’s claims about whether the strait is open or closed.