Donald Trump, US President, speaks during a press conference at the NATO summit at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Türkiye, July 8, 2026. (Photo by Claudia Radetskaya/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images
President Donald Trump’s proposed 20 percent fee on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz could backfire and further reduce traffic declines in the vital waterway, shipping executives are warning.
A temporary ceasefire signed by the United States and Iran in mid-June appears to be increasingly frayed after the adversaries traded hostilities for a third straight day on Tuesday.
The agreement explicitly prohibited Tehran from levying any fees on commercial vessels passing through the strait.
But the president is no longer calling for a return to pre-war agreements, with the Strait of Hormuz remaining a free international waterway. Instead, Trump suggested that commercial ships trying to transit would pay the US as compensation to guarantee safe passage.
Shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd said it was “fundamentally wrong” to charge tolls for passage through international waters, regardless of which country is responsible.
“The cost of tolls for infrastructure such as the Suez Canal or Panama Canal varies as they reflect large infrastructure investments,” the company said in a statement. “In the Strait of Hormuz, things are different.”
Any tariffs imposed by the US could further reduce traffic in the vital waterway, which has already ground to a halt again in recent days, according to the Baltic and International Maritime Council, the world’s largest shipping association.
“While the proposal to fund security through a tax on cargo transiting the Strait of Hormuz is innovative and well-intentioned, the increased cost would represent a further barrier to transit through the strait that can only be outweighed by a significant reduction in the threat from Iran,” Jacob P. Larsen, BIMCO’s chief security officer, told CNBC on Tuesday.
Vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz fell sharply on Sunday, with Kpler data showing just 14 ships, including four crude oil tankers, crossing the waterway, down from 37 ships a week earlier. This could dry up further if tolls are introduced.
Iran ridicules Trump’s toll road plan
Until Trump suggested otherwise in a Truth Social post on Monday, the US had strongly opposed any tariffs in the Strait of Hormuz.
The United States has rejected Iran’s own plans to levy tariffs on ships passing through the strait, which maritime experts, regulators and even senior Trump administration officials say is illegal under international law.
The Trump administration previously threatened to “aggressively” impose sanctions on Oman if it was seen to help Iran set up a toll system.
“All countries must categorically reject any attempt by Iran to disrupt the free flow of trade,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a May 28 X message.
However, in what appears to be a dramatic change of policy, the US President has announced via social media that the country will become known as the “Guardian of the Strait of Hormuz”.
As such, Trump said the US would be reimbursed 20% of all cargo transported through the waterway “for any costs necessary to carry out the work of providing safety and security in this very volatile region of the world.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi appeared to ridicule Trump’s plan. In a social media post, Araghchi said the US president is “absolutely right” that whoever ensures the safe passage of commercial ships through Hormuz should be compensated for that service.
“Iran has always been the GUARDIAN of the strait and will remain so FOREVER. 20% is, of course, too much. We will be fair,” Araghchi said on Monday.
— CNBC’s Kevin Breuninger also contributed to this report.
Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a beat from the most trusted business news source.