Donald Trump drops proposed 20% Strait of Hormuz toll within 24 hours

President Donald Trump on Tuesday reversed course on imposing a 20% reimbursement fee on cargo moving through the Strait of Hormuz, saying that that will be replaced by Gulf States investing in the United States.Trump had announced on Monday that the fee would cover US-provided security in the critical oil thoroughfare.“Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States,” Trump wrote on Truth Social moments before he was expected to meet with Iraq’s prime minister at the White House.Trump administration officials had previously questioned the feasibility and legality of charging fees in international waterways.“It’s an international waterway. No country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway. That’s existing international law,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last month.Vice President JD Vance had also emphasized that the administration’s stance was that “international waterways should be free of tolls.”And Trump himself had previously said the US wanted the strait to be “free.”“We want it open. We want it free. We don’t want tolls. It’s international. It’s an international waterway,” Trump said in May.