President Donald Trump announced on Monday that the United States would impose a 20% toll on the value of any cargo being transported by a vessel transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Trump further announced the reintroduction of a blockade on vessels transiting Iranian ports. On Tuesday, Trump said he would replace the toll with new deals by the Sunni-Arab monarchies to invest in the U.S. But he insisted that the blockade would remain in place.
This is good news. The reintroduction of the blockade is a deserved response to continuing Iranian attacks in the strait. Trump is also right to abandon his toll proposal. It was extortionate, breached international maritime law, and set a terrible precedent that would have encouraged Iran’s own toll demands in the strait and future Chinese toll demands in the Western Pacific. Hence why Iran’s foreign minister trolled Trump online following his announcement.
That said, Trump’s purpose in announcing the toll was probably not to generate revenue. It’s also unlikely Trump intended to actually carry through the toll. Instead, Trump was likely attempting to increase international pressure on Tehran to re-engage in credible diplomacy with Washington. Recent U.S. strikes targeting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also appear designed to undermine the Revolutionary Guard in Iranian political deliberations, reflecting U.S. assessments that the Guard is the primary obstacle to ending this conflict in a viable manner.
The bottom line here is that the Trump administration is very frustrated that the international community, most members of which are far more reliant than the U.S. on energy supplies from the region, is failing to help reopen the strait. China and India, which rely heavily on energy supplies from Iran, have also put only moderate pressure on Tehran to end its attacks on the strait.
A heavy focus of Trump’s frustration has fallen on America’s Sunni-Arab allies, who Trump claims have now pledged new investments in the U.S. economy. They have largely refused to join U.S. military action to defend the strait. In fact, Saudi Arabia temporarily restricted U.S. action. Others, such as America’s European allies, have hidden behind their opposition to the war with Iran and the absence of a NATO remit.
As I noted in March, however, “Iran’s closure of the strait might not involve NATO commitments, but it is clearly a major European security concern. Iran is deliberately causing significant economic harm to European nations and populations.” I added, “NATO members do not define their military interests solely through NATO. France has conducted extensive non-NATO military operations in West Africa in recent years … [Chancellor Friedrich] Merz is also boosting Germany’s non-NATO military ties, stating recently that Germany-India relations carry ‘strategic significance that strengthens both sides.’”
European populations and businesses are writhing under soaring energy costs, weakening already weak prospects for much-needed economic growth. Japan and South Korea depend on energy supplies from the Middle East, with both possessing excellent navies, even if Japanese law deters global operations. From an American perspective, then, the excuses for inaction simply do not add up.
Indeed, the Sunni monarchies have well-equipped militaries designed to integrate seamlessly with U.S. forces. And while their navies are in desperate need of increased funding and more warships, a small but significant Franco-British naval task force has been established to help keep the strait open. And yet, for all their soaring rhetoric about international order, French President Emmanuel Macron and outgoing U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer insist their militaries can’t go into action until hostilities end. Which somewhat defeats the purpose of military power.
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Trump wants to make clear both to allies and adversaries alike that they cannot expect America to shoulder a solitary burden of countering Iranian attacks on global interests. And that if they want to avoid tolls on their transiting cargo, they ought to immediately and significantly do one of two things.
Either join U.S. efforts to forcibly defend international shipping or put far greater pressure on Iran to stop its attacks and accept concessions at the negotiating table.