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Trump’s Hormuz toll plan
President Donald Trump said the United States would restart its naval blockade of Iran and “become the guardian” of the Strait of Hormuz while charging a 20% toll on ships transiting the strait.
“The U.S.A. will be, from this point forward, known as ‘THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT’”
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “The U.S.A. will be, from this point forward, known as ‘THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT’,” and said the U.S. would be reimbursed “at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped.”
The proposal drew immediate legal and policy pushback, with Al Jazeera reporting that Andreas Krieg said Washington “has no legal mechanism to impose charges on international shipping through the strait.”
Al Jazeera also quoted Krieg warning that “introducing an American toll would inadvertently validate Iran’s own argument” about monetising passage through Hormuz.
Lula calls it piracy
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva condemned Trump’s proposed Hormuz charges as “piracy,” speaking at a public event in São Paulo state.
Lula said, “Back in the day, that would have been considered piracy,” and added, “The United States is an important country, and I believe it fought piracy for a long time. It cannot act like a pirate today.”
The criticism followed Trump’s announcement that the U.S. would seek to impose a 20 percent tariff on goods transported through the Strait of Hormuz while reimposing a naval blockade on Iran.
Lula also linked the escalation to rising costs, saying, “the cost of war reaches our basic crops, like beans, rice, and tomatoes.”
International law and fallout
Al Jazeera reported that the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization opposed mandatory fees, with Arsenio Dominguez telling the outlet that “Countries do not have the right to introduce tolls or payments or charges on these straits.”
“Countries do not have the right to introduce tolls or payments or charges on these straits”
The IMO’s statement to Al Jazeera said, “There is no legal basis through which to introduce mandatory tolls simply to transit through a strait.”
Al Jazeera also described how shipping companies could respond by making “risk calculations based on insurance, security and operational continuity,” rather than choosing between an American toll and an Iranian demand.
In the same coverage, Andreas Krieg said the U.S. proposal would create “another layer of legal and commercial ambiguity,” because “Markets dislike uncertainty far more than they dislike predictable costs.”