Just 24 hours after triggering international controversy with a plan to impose a 20 percent reimbursement fee on commercial shipping passing through the strategically critical Strait of Hormuz, U.S. President Donald Trump has announced a sudden reversal of the policy. In a post published to his Truth Social platform on Tuesday, Trump confirmed that the fee proposal will be withdrawn entirely, replaced by new trade and investment agreements that Gulf Cooperation Council states will enter into with the United States.
The policy shift, Trump noted, followed what he described as highly productive discussions with senior leadership across Middle Eastern nations that rely on the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s busiest maritime chokepoint for global oil and natural gas shipments. “Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20 percent United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States,” Trump wrote in the post.
Despite scrapping the fee, Trump maintained that Washington’s restrictive posture toward Iran in the waterway will remain unchanged. He clarified that the Strait will continue to be open to all commercial shipping traffic with the sole exception of vessels connected to Iran, with a full naval blockade remaining in place for any ships traveling to or from Iranian ports or carrying Iranian-origin cargo. “BY FAR, the Strait of Hormuz is open to ALL Ship traffic except for Iran,” he said. “We will therefore have a FULL Blockade, but only on Ships coming to and from Iranian ports, or carrying anything have to do with Iranian cargo,” he added.
The reversal comes amid rapidly escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran that have derailed a recent detente between the two nations. Less than a month ago, the United States and Iran signed a 14-point memorandum of understanding designed to end open hostilities between the two sides. But a new round of U.S. airstrikes against Iranian targets, followed by retaliatory action from Tehran, has pushed the two nations back into open armed conflict. Prior to announcing the fee reversal, Trump already notified Congress on Friday that the U.S. had formally resumed military operations against Iran.