U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday dropped the concept of charging a 20 per cent fee on all cargo shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, and said he would as an alternative take trade and investment deals with the Gulf states.
The change of plan comes a day after Trump proposed charging a 20 per cent fee to protect the waterway.
“Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I actually have decided to switch the 20 per cent United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the varied Gulf States shall be making into the US,” he said in a post on Truth Social.
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Trump didn’t mention any commitments by Gulf states, saying “Investments shall be MASSIVE but, at the identical time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future.”
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Shortly after Trump made the 20 per cent fee proposal on Monday, the U.N.’s shipping agency said it opposed fees on ships passing through maritime waterways but added it will await more details of what Trump had in mind.
In his post on Tuesday, Trump declared the Strait of Hormuz was open to all ship traffic apart from Iran.
“We’ll due to this fact have a FULL Blockade, but only on Ships coming to and from Iranian ports, or carrying anything need to do with Iranian cargo,” he said.