‘Piracy’: Will Trump’s 20 percent Hormuz toll find takers?
Al Jazeera · LC · trust 52/100
play Live Sign up Show navigation menu Navigation menu News Show more news sections Africa Asia US & Canada Latin America Europe Asia Pacific World Cup Middle East Explained Opinion Video More Show more sections Features Economy Sport Human Rights Climate Crisis Investigations Interactives In Pictures Science & Technology Podcasts Travel Sponsored Content play Live Click here to search search Sign up Navigation menu caret-left Donald Trump ICE kills 26-year-old in Maine: What happened? How Iran war fallout may shape US elections A visual guide to redistricting caret-right EXPLAINER Economy | Conflict ‘Piracy’: Will Trump’s 20 percent Hormuz toll find takers? Trump says the US will start charging a cargo fee for ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
x whatsapp-stroke copylink google Add Al Jazeera on Google info play video play video Video Duration 06 minutes 24 seconds play-arrow 06:24 No country outside the region should control the Strait of Hormuz, analyst warns
Amid renewed escalation between the United States and Iran, President Donald Trump says the US will restart its naval blockade of Iran and “become the guardian” of the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump added that the US will charge a 20 percent toll on ships transiting through the strait.
Here is a closer look at what Trump said and what this could mean for ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump revealed his plans for the Strait of Hormuz in an interview with Fox News and in a post on his Truth Social platform on Monday.
“We are reinstating the THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE, so named because it is only stopping Iran’s ships or customers from entering or leaving,” Trump posted.
The US Navy-led Joint Maritime Information Center subsequently added that the blockade would begin at 20:00 GMT on Tuesday.
“The U.S.A. will be, from this point forward, known as ‘THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT’,” Trump added, “but as such, and as a matter of FAIRNESS, will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped, for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World.”
“The process and formation will begin immediately,” he said.
But Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer at the School of Security Studies at King’s College London, told Al Jazeera that Trump’s latest comment “looks much more like an improvised political remark than a developed policy”.
“It reflects President Trump’s instinct to demonstrate that he still has leverage and options, even as Washington’s room for manoeuvre has narrowed considerably,” Krieg said. “The problem is that the proposal misunderstands what the dispute over the Strait of Hormuz has become. This is no longer primarily about generating revenue. It is about authority, prestige and who sets the rules of the Gulf’s most important waterway.”
Krieg said, in practice, he does not see the US-administered 20 percent toll working.
He explained that Washington “has no legal mechanism to impose charges on international shipping through the strait, nor does it physically control the waterway”.
“More importantly, introducing an American toll would inadvertently validate Iran’s own argument that passage through Hormuz is something that can legitimately be monetised. Washington has spent weeks insisting that freedom of navigation is a principle under international law,” Krieg said.
“If it suddenly starts talking about charging for access itself, it weakens its own legal and political position while strengthening Tehran’s narrative that control over Hormuz comes with the right to levy fees.”
Krieg explained that commercial shipping companies will comply with whoever can actually affect their ability to sail safely.
“They are not choosing between an American toll and an Iranian demand on commercial grounds. They are making risk calculations based on insurance, security and operational continuity,” he explained.
He added: “If Iran continues to exercise coercive control over the strait, shipping companies will adapt to that reality regardless of what Washington announces from the White House.”
Before the war, most commercial traffic in the Strait of Hormuz followed established shipping lanes that run roughly through the middle of the strait.
Now, the vessels face a stark choice: If they move near the Omani side of the strait, they risk getting attacked by Iran, and if they sail closer to Iranian waters in coordination with Iran, they risk being accused of violating Trump’s blockade and could face US attacks.
Krieg said Trump’s proposal would create greater uncertainty for vessels traversing through the Strait of Hormuz.
“Shipping companies already face conflicting guidance from insurers, naval authorities and regional governments,” he said. “Adding a politically driven American toll proposal without any internationally recognised enforcement mechanism would create another layer of legal and commercial ambiguity. Markets dislike uncertainty far more than they dislike predictable costs.”
Arsenio Dominguez, the secretary-general of the United Nations shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), told Al Jazeera in April that the introduction of tolls in waterways goes against international law.
“Countries do not have the right to introduce tolls or payments or charges on these straits,” Dominguez said.
“Any introduction of tolls is something that is against international law,” he said.
In a statement on Monday, the IMO said it opposed any imposition of fees to sail through the strait.
“We have always been consistent on our stance on fees. IMO stands firmly against charging fees for passage through straits used for international navigation,” the agency said.
“There is no legal basis through which to introduce mandatory tolls simply to transit through a strait.”
In June, Trump’s secretary of state and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, had rejected the notion of any country charging tolls to pass through…
Read the original at Al Jazeera →
Open in TruthVane →