US will charge 20% fee for ships using Strait of Hormuz, Trump says
President claims Washington will be ‘guardian’ of waterway and seek reimbursement to provide security for vessels
Source: Financial Times
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DW NOTE
The U.S. Navy has guarded Hormuz since 1949 at taxpayer expense. Now Trump wants oil importers — Japan, China, South Korea, India — to pay 20% per transit. Call it what it is: a unilateral toll on a waterway the U.S. does not own, imposed after a crisis Washington helped create. If this stands, every navy with a frigate will start charging protection fees in international waters.