Twenty per cent of every cargo, payable to Washington. That was President Donald Trump’s demand for ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz, and on a full supertanker it works out to roughly US$30 million.
The sum rests on oil at about US$80 per barrel and a tanker holding about two million barrels of crude. Iran, which has been charging for passage itself, had asked for as much as US$2 million per voyage, on an ad-hoc basis, according to people familiar with the matter.
Trump announced on Monday (Jul 13) that the US blockade of Iranian ships transiting Hormuz was back in force and that America would become the waterway’s “GUARDIAN”. He added that the US “as a matter of FAIRNESS, will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20 per cent on all cargo shipped”.
The White House gave no further detail. Nothing was said about how the fee would be collected, or whether Gulf allies had been told.
Shipping asks what exactly is being proposed
Traders and ship operators were caught off guard. Nearly a dozen people involved in shipping markets, some of whom have sent tankers through Hormuz in recent weeks, told Bloomberg they had no warning. With so little to go on, they said, it was too early to say how a fee would change their transit decisions. One captain, who asked not to be named, likened it to highway robbery.
The strait normally carries about a fifth of the world’s oil and gas flows, which explains the stakes. The fight for control of it matters to both Washington and Tehran, and a fragile ceasefire has now fallen apart.
Iran’s reaction was unexpected. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on social media: “absolutely right. Whoever provides secure and safe passage of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz should be compensated for this service.” He did think the American number was steep. “20 per cent is of course too much,” he said, adding, “we will be fair”.
