President Donald Trump announced a 20% fee on all cargo transiting the Strait of Hormuz to reimburse US security operations
The US Central Command will reimpose a blockade on Iranian ports near the strategic waterway starting Tuesday
The United Nations International Maritime Organization and maritime experts stated that such transit tolls are illegal under international law
US President Donald Trump said Monday that America will charge a 20% fee on all cargo shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, after declaring the country the "guardian" of the waterway.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said the US will also reimpose its blockade of Iranian ports near the strait. Trump wrote that the strait "is OPEN, and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran," and that the U.S. would now be known as "THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT," entitled to reimbursement "at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped" for providing security in the region. He added that all countries other than Iran would have "fair and open use of the Strait."
4 July 2026
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Speaking to reporters at the White House later Monday, Trump said the U.S. was "taking out all of their capability for anything having to do with the strait," referring to Iran, and predicted Washington would "end up controlling the whole thing," CNBC reported.
Legal pushback
The toll plan contradicts positions taken by maritime experts, regulators and Trump's own administration officials, who have called such fees illegal under international law, the report said.
The UN's International Maritime Organisation said after Trump's post that it opposes charging fees for passage through straits used for international navigation, adding that there is no legal basis for mandatory transit tolls.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said last month that no country may charge tolls on an international waterway under existing law.
Iran's response
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rejected the US framing in a post on X Monday, arguing that Iran, not the US, controls the strait and has "always been the GUARDIAN of the Strait" and would remain so.
Araghchi wrote that Iran deserves compensation for the service, adding that "20% is of course too much. We will be fair."
Market and analyst reaction
David Goldwyn, president of Goldwyn Global Strategies and a former State Department special envoy under the Obama administration, called the 20% charge "quite an extortionate level" and questioned whether the US could actually deliver safe passage, according to the report.
Goldwyn said the US would have demonstrated its ability to escort ships safely in recent weeks if it could, calling the announcement "really just bluster."
