Trump Reverses Course On 20% Hormuz Shipping Fee As US-Iran Fighting Intensifies

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday abandoned plans to impose a 20% transit fee on ships using the Strait of Hormuz, reversing a proposal announced just a day earlier as renewed military exchanges between the US and Iran intensified around one of the world’s busiest oil shipping lanes.Reversal after backlash“I don't think anybody should be able to charge a fee,” Trump told reporters. The US President added that he doesn’t like “the concept of a fee, but at the same time, it’s not fair that we’re protecting this Strait for the entire world.” The reversal came after Trump had proposed on Monday that the US would become the “guardian” of the Strait of Hormuz and charge commercial vessels a 20% reimbursement fee for safe passage through the waterway, which carries about 20% of global oil shipments.US officials spent Monday scrambling to assess how such a toll would work before Trump abruptly abandoned the proposal less than 24 hours later, according to multiple reports.Instead of charging ships, Trump said Washington would pursue broader trade and investment agreements with Gulf countries that would bring “billions and billions of dollars” into the US.He also said the US military did not need a presence inside Iran, adding that Washington would continue pursuing commercial opportunities in the region, including with Iraq.Trump’s latest comments align with previous statements by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who last month rejected any proposal allowing countries to charge ships for using international waterways, warning it would set a dangerous global precedent.Fighting escalatesTrump’s policy shift came as the renewed fighting between the US and Iran entered a third consecutive day.The US military said it carried out a five-hour operation targeting sites across Iran, including the port cities of Bushehr and Bandar Abbas, saying the strikes were intended to reduce Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping.Iran retaliated with missile and drone attacks against US allies and commercial tankers, while explosions were also reported Tuesday evening on Iran's Gulf island of Qeshm near the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iran’s Fars news agency.The renewed hostilities follow weeks of tensions over shipping through the strategic waterway after Iran sought to restrict vessels using routes outside those designated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.UN urges restraintThe renewed conflict prompted fresh concern from the UN with the High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk describing the return to wider hostilities between Washington and Tehran as “a huge setback” for civilians and warned that the escalation risks further destabilizing the region.The Strait of Hormuz remains central to global energy markets, with any disruption to tanker traffic capable of affecting oil supplies and prices worldwide.