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20% Fee, Then Reversal
President Donald Trump announced a resumption of an American naval blockade on Iranian shipping and said that all vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, including those of US allies, must pay a 20% fee to reimburse the US “for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the world.”
“must pay a 20% fee to reimburse the US "for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the world"”
The next day, Trump abandoned that proposal completely and offered instead that he would strike “trade and investment deals” with America’s Gulf allies, implying the US would offer safe passage through the Strait in return.
The BBC said the US-Iran memorandum of understanding (MOU) that secured a temporary ceasefire and set up a framework for negotiations “died at 10:16 ET (16:16 BST) on Tuesday,” when Trump announced the resumption of the US blockade of Iranian shipping.
The BBC also reported that the Iranians countered by stepping up attacks on US allies and commercial shipping in the region, grinding traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to a near standstill once more.
In a separate account, Al Jazeera said Trump backed away from his claim that Washington would levy a 20% transit fee, replacing it with “Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making with the United States.”
Legal Clash and Market Alarm
CBS News reported that shipping executives and industry experts said Trump’s proposed 20% levy would be illegal, with Lloyd’s List editor Richard Meade writing that “there is no legal basis for charging vessels to exercise their right of transit passage through an international strait.”
CBS News also quoted RUSI Europe research fellow Petras Katinas warning that the fee would open “a very dangerous Pandora's Box,” because other countries would decide they want to impose tolls as well.
CNBC said the temporary ceasefire deal explicitly prohibited Tehran from imposing any charges on commercial ships passing through the strait, but that Trump was no longer calling for a return to prewar arrangements and instead suggested commercial vessels must pay the US as compensation for guaranteeing safe passage.
CNBC added that Hapag-Lloyd said it was “fundamentally wrong” to charge tolls for passage through international waters, and that BIMCO analysis estimated the cost for a Very Large Crude Carrier at around $27 million per voyage.
In a separate market-focused account, Crypto Briefing said the probability of a deal by August 13, 2026 decreased from 2% to 1.7% after the US reimposed a blockade and sanctions on Iranian oil exports.
Sanctions, Strikes, and Stakes
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that the US Treasury announced moves to increase pressure on Iran’s sanctions evading network, targeting Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani and saying he remains a “major force” behind Tehran’s oil exports.
“Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the statement announcing the sanctions on July 14.”
RFE/RL said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that “The Iranian regime survives on deception, and the Shamkhani network is one of its most profitable engines,” and that Treasury was “shutting down the financial infrastructure that allows the regime to continue its threats to U.S. national security and global shipping.”
NPR reported that at 4:45 p.m. ET, U.S. Central Command began launching the third consecutive night of strikes against Iran “at the Commander in Chief's direction,” and said the blockade would begin on Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET.
NPR also quoted Trump saying, “We are reinstating THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE, so named because it is only stopping Iran's ships or customers from entering or leaving,” and said CENTCOM told mariners approaching the Gulf of Oman and Strait of Hormuz to “contact U.S. naval forces on bridge-to-bridge channel 16.”
In the same NPR account, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the escalation, saying, “These attacks must all stop,” and warning that “a return to full-scale hostilities would have catastrophic consequences.”
