Trump’s 20% Hormuz Toll Could Bring in Nearly $200 Billion a Year, Analysis Finds
President Donald Trump’s proposal to levy a 20% fee on commercial cargo moving through the Strait of Hormuz could generate as much as $194 billion annually for the United States, according to a New York Post analysis based on global shipping traffic before the outbreak of the Iran war.
Citing data provided by Exiger CEO Brandon Daniels, the Post reported that between $880 billion and $970 billion in international trade passed through the strategic waterway each year before the conflict with Iran. Based on those figures, a 20% transit charge could yield between $176 billion and $194 billion in yearly revenue.
Trump unveiled the proposal Monday while announcing that the United States would assume the role of “Guardian of the Hormuz Strait” and restore the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports.
“The U.S.A. will be … known as ‘THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT,'” Trump wrote, adding that the U.S. should be “reimbursed, at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped,” for providing security in the vital shipping lane.
According to the Post’s analysis, revenue from such a program would be sufficient to cover the salaries of approximately one million federal civilian employees. However, administration officials have yet to explain how the proposed toll would be assessed, collected, or enforced.
Daniels told the newspaper that numerous legal and practical questions would have to be resolved before such a system could be implemented, including whether international maritime law would permit the United States to impose the fee and which government agency would be responsible for collecting it.
The proposal has already prompted criticism from abroad.
A group of independent experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council argued that requiring commercial ships to pay for passage through an international strait would violate international law and could erode the longstanding principle guaranteeing freedom of navigation.
The plan also marks a sharp departure from the U.S. position in previous years regarding transit fees in the Strait of Hormuz.
When Iran previously suggested imposing its own tolls on vessels using the strategic passage, Washington rejected the idea, maintaining that the Strait of Hormuz is an international waterway through which ships are entitled to pass freely under international law.
Tehran likewise dismissed Trump’s proposal. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi argued that Iran—not the United States—has historically served as the guardian of the strait and criticized the proposed 20% fee as excessive.
The Strait of Hormuz is widely regarded as one of the world’s most strategically important maritime chokepoints, with hundreds of billions of dollars in crude oil, liquefied natural gas, and other goods passing through it each year. Any disruption to shipping through the narrow corridor has the potential to send shockwaves through global energy markets and international trade.
{Matzav.com}
