President Donald Trump said Monday that the US was the “guardian” of the Strait of Hormuz and proposed charging a 20% fee on cargo shipped through the waterway. He also formally notified Congress that fighting with Tehran had resumed, as Washington reimposed its naval blockade on Iran.
It’s unclear how the Hormuz payment arrangement would work, the BBC wrote, though Trump implied Gulf nations should reimburse the US.
While maritime law prohibits charging ships to cross international waters, the practice has a long history, the Financial Times wrote: The Ottomans charged to traverse to the Black Sea in the 18th century, and starting in 1429, Denmark forced vessels transiting the Øresund waterway to hand over 1-5% of their cargo value.