President Donald Trump on Monday said the US would impose tariffs on the Strait of Hormuz “at the rate of 20% on all goods shipped,” after declaring America the “guardian” of the major oil shipping route.
Trump, in a Truth Social post, also said the US would reimpose its blockade of Iranian ports near the sea, a milestone in the US’s soon-to-restart war with Tehran.
The US has rejected Iran’s claims about the strait and its plans to charge ships passing through it. But instead of calling for the return of the problem to its pre-war status as a toll-free international waterway, Trump’s post says commercial ships trying to navigate it now must pay US protection fees.
Oil prices jumped, and stock indexes fell, following Trump’s announcement.
The strait, which saw 20% of the world’s oil trade before being choked at the start of the war in late February, “is OPEN, and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran,” Trump wrote in the post.
All countries except Iran will “use the Strait in a fair and open manner,” Trump wrote. This assertion occurred amid new fire talks between the US and Iran that have put the hope of a peace deal out of reach, while also reducing the flow of tankers in the crisis.
“The USA will, from now on, be known as the ‘GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT,'” he said. “But as it is, and as a matter of FAIRNESS, it will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20% of all goods shipped, for any costs necessary to carry out the work of providing safety and security in this volatile world.”
“The plan and formation will start soon,” he added.
Much about the proposed return policy was unclear. The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s questions about Trump’s post.
It’s not unprecedented for the US to provide defense services to ships in the Persian Gulf – it did so for Kuwaiti ships fired by Iran in the 1980s, for example.
But slapping a 20% tariff on ships is “a level of extortion,” especially since “it’s not clear that the U.S. can deliver a safe passage in the first place,” said David Goldwyn, president of Goldwyn Global Strategies and a former special envoy to the U.S. State Department during the Obama administration.
“If the US had been able to escort the ships safely and ensure there was no danger from Iran, we would have seen that happen a few weeks ago,” Goldwyn told CNBC in a phone interview. “So I think this is just bluster.”
Trump made the policy announcement in a telephonic interview with Fox News early Monday morning, where he said the US would be “paid for monitoring” the tide.
“We’re going to keep it strait, and we’re going to run it,” Trump said.
“We’re going to be the guardian of the strait — maybe we’ll call it a guardian angel,” Trump told Fox. “And we should be paid back for that.”
“We will not be expected to do that for nothing, unlike what we have been doing for many years,” he added. “We were guarding nothing, now we will guard it, we will earn by guarding it. The money is big.”
Since the conflict began, Iran has signed plans to impose tolls or other fees on ships passing through the waterway – a position the US has rejected.
A temporary moratorium agreement the US and Iran signed in mid-June expressly prohibited Tehran from tolling commercial ships passing through the port.
But that deal has been so undermined by repeated attacks in the region that Trump last week declared the ceasefire “over.”
Trump has previously floated the possibility that the US could impose tariffs on commercial shipping in the crisis.
Days after the signing of the 60-day ceasefire, Trump wrote on Truth Social that there will be no payment “unless imposed by the United States of America, if the agreement is not terminated, for the services rendered as a Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East for the purposes of both past, present, and future expenses.”
His latest comments show him doubling down on what might happen after the cease-fire erodes.
– CNBC Companies Spencer Kimball contributed to this report.
