Trump reverses plan to impose 20% fee on Hormuz cargo after appeals from Gulf countries

 US President Donald Trump has reversed his plan to impose a
a 20 percent “safe passage” fee on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz
after intervention from some Gulf countries.

 

Trump had announced the levy on Monday while declaring the
US ‘the guardians of the Hormuz strait’.

He said the payment would help cover the cost of maintaining
security in the strategic waterway.

The announcement sent oil prices surging through the roof,
with Gulf allies’ leaders working frantically to get Trump on the phone in time
to talk him out of the idea altogether.

The flurry of appeals came from Saudi Arabia, the United
Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.

Those petitions succeeded as Trump announced a reversal of
his plan on Tuesday.

“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,” he said in a Truth Social post.

Trump said the investments would be “MASSIVE but, at the
same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future”.

He said the deals would see factories, plants, and equipment
pour into the US at “Historic levels”.

The Gulf nations have committed to invest trillions of
dollars in the US, though it remains unclear how much of that they will
actually spend over the next several years.

Meanwhile, the US continues to bomb Iran in what appears to
be a resumption of active conflict between both countries, despite an ongoing
roadmap to end the conflict.

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