US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a 20 per cent toll on cargo passing through the Strait of Hormuz took his Gulf allies by surprise and the members of his own administration. However, the decision was scrapped entirely within 24 hours, following a push from Gulf leaders to get Trump to reconsider the decision. Trump confirmed the change himself on Tuesday, replacing the toll with trade and investment commitments from Gulf states instead.
What did Trump announce on Hormuz?
President Trump had announced on Monday that the US would take control of the Strait of Hormuz, saying America would guard the waterway and charge a 20 per cent toll on all cargo shipped through it. The American President even went so far as to declare the US as the โguardian of the Hormuz Strait.”
How Gulf leaders forced a U-turn?
Following the announcement, officials in the White House scrambled to work out how the toll would even function, who would pay it, and how the money would be collected. At the same time, leaders from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Qatar rushed to reach Trump directly to talk him out of the plan. Trump, on Tuesday, confirmed that he was scrapping the toll and replacing it with trade and investment commitments from Gulf states into the US instead.
โBased on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States,โ Trump said in a post through Truth Social.
Why Trump’s own team opposed the toll?
According to CNN report, Trump’s advisers had pushed back against the toll for months. Officials feared it would raise oil and gas prices, create political trouble ahead of the midterms, and contradict America’s own position that no country should charge fees for using an international waterway. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also made that same point publicly just weeks earlier, calling toll-free passage on international waterways settled law.
Conflict continues despite the policy reversal
The toll reversal came less than 24 hours after the US carried out fresh strikes on Iran, hitting several coastal and port sites. Washington described the strikes as retaliation for Iran targeting cargo ships attempting to cross Hormuz, including two UAE tankers hit by Iranian cruise missiles days earlier.
Iran responded by striking American-linked sites in Bahrain and Jordan, along with tankers in the strait, killing at least two crew members. A full naval blockade on Iranian ships and cargo also took effect Tuesday evening as tensions in the region continued.
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