US President Donald Trump announced on July 13 that the United States will immediately begin charging a 20% fee on all cargo shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, declaring the US military the official guardian of the volatile maritime chokepoint.
The announcement, delivered via Trump’s social media platform Truth Social, follows a fresh, two-day escalation of military strikes between US and Iranian forces that has threatened to permanently dismantle ongoing regional peace talks.
“The USA 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% 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. The process and formation will begin immediately,” Trump wrote.
Hours prior to his social media post, Trump signaled the move during a Fox News interview, stating that the US was “taking over” the waterway. “We’re going to keep the strait, and we’ll probably run it. 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,” he told the network.
Reinstating the blockade
The newly declared toll coincides with Washington reinstating what Trump labeled “the Iranian blockade” — a military operation designed to isolate Tehran’s shipping access while keeping the passage open to global commerce.
“The Hormuz Strait is OPEN, and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran. We are reinstating 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 asserted.
Tehran rejected the move. Following Trump’s statements, a spokesman for Iran’s Khatam Al-Anbiya military command issued a video message declaring that Iran “under no circumstances will allow the United States to interfere in the management” of the waterway. The command further warned neighboring Gulf countries that any cooperation with American forces regarding the strait would be treated as “an act of war”.
Escalation at the chokepoint
The geopolitical standoff intensified on the ground as Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) posted on X that it considered the strait closed, citing “hostile actions by US forces” that made passage “currently unfeasible.”
The current dispute is rooted in a conflict that began on February 28, when US and Israeli strikes killed Iran’s then Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, prompting Iran to block the maritime corridor. The latest flashpoint occurred on July 11 when Iranian forces struck a container ship, triggering a consecutive day of retaliatory military exchanges.
While an interim peace deal reached last month technically permitted Iran to manage traffic and potentially levy its own fees, Trump suggested last week that those negotiations were “over.” International mediators from Pakistan, Qatar, and Egypt are continuing to salvage a final agreement, though the two nations are only midway through their designated 60-day negotiation window.
The Strait of Hormuz remains the world’s primary energy bottleneck, historically carrying roughly one-fifth of the global oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply. While the US military has actively explored alternative global routes to bypass the passage entirely, maritime nations face an immediate disruption to commercial shipping economics under the proposed 20% security tariff.
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