U.S. to reimpose naval blockade as Iran ceasefire ends
President Trump on Tuesday said he was dropping a plan to levy a 20% fee on commercial ships using the Strait of Hormuz, instead pursuing trade and investment deals with Gulf states, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The reversal came a day after Trump announced the policy Monday, and as the U.S. military prepared to reimpose a naval blockade on Iranian ports at 4 p.m. ET.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said the change followed “highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership.” He wrote that the fee would be replaced with “Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States.” The president had previously said the U.S. would become the “guardian” of the waterway, through which about 20% of the world’s oil supplies pass.
The administration has been in a cycle of escalating military action with Iran in recent days. U.S. Central Command conducted three days of strikes on Iranian targets near the strait after Iran fired on ships that hugged Oman’s coast. The hostilities have effectively ended the ceasefire deal the two countries agreed to last month.
Aides scrambled Monday after Trump’s initial social-media announcement to determine who would lead the effort to collect the fee, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Some officials considered the Treasury Department responsible, while others believed the Energy Department should take charge because the strait acts as a passage for oil from the Persian Gulf. Meetings with White House aides had been planned for the coming days to move ahead with the toll.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio had previously voiced opposition to such a toll. “It’s an international waterway. No country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway,” Rubio told reporters in June.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.