Trump says U.S. will charge 20% fee on all cargo shipped through Strait of Hormuz

U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that the United States will serve as the "guardian" of the Strait of Hormuz and be "reimbursed" at a 20 percent rate on all cargo shipped through the crucial waterway.

In a social media post, Trump also said that the United States is reinstating its naval blockade of Iranian ports, weeks after it had been lifted, as disruptions to commercial traffic through the strait — a crucial shipping route for oil, natural gas and other commodities — continued amid the Middle East conflict.

"The Hormuz Strait is OPEN, and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran. We are reinstating the THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE, so named because it is only stopping Iran's ships or customers from entering or leaving. All other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

"The U.S.A. will be, from this point forward, known as 'THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT,' but as such, and as a matter of FAIRNESS, will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20 percent 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."

He added that the process will begin "immediately."

It remains unclear whether the 20-percent rate applies to the value of all cargo shipped through the Strait of Hormuz or represents a charge based on the costs needed to ensure safe passage through the waterway. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for clarification.

As for the reimposition of the naval blockade, U.S. Central Command (Centcom) said that its forces will resume blocking maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports at 4 p.m. on Tuesday. 

"CENTCOM forces will enforce the blockade against vessels transiting to or from Iranian ports and coastal areas," it said in a statement posted on its X account. "The U.S. military continues to support traffic flow through regional waters for all vessels not violating the blockade."

The reimposition follows the initial implementation from April 13 to June 18, during which U.S. forces redirected more than 140 compliant vessels, disabled nine noncompliant ships and allowed over 50 commercial vessels supporting humanitarian aid to pass through the blockade, the command said.

Korea and other countries, which rely heavily on the strait for energy imports, have been closely watching developments in the strait, which Iran all but closed during the war.

Tensions escalated in the Strait of Hormuz recently as the United States and Iran traded strikes after the U.S. military said Iran had attacked commercial ships transiting the strait. Their tit-for-tat exchange stoked fears of a potential return to full-scale war.

Iran has continued to seek control over the strait, while the Trump administration has pushed to restore safe passage through the waterway, calling it "an international waterway."

In a Fox News interview earlier in the day, Trump also said the United States will "keep" and "run" the strait, and that it should be reimbursed for controlling it.

"We're going to keep the strait, and we'll probably run it," he said.

"We'll become the guardian of the strait. Maybe we'll call it the guardian angel of the strait. And we should be reimbursed for that."

Yonhap