Trump Replaces Proposed 20% Strait Of Hormuz Toll With Investment Deals With Gulf States — ‘Those Investments Will Be Massive’

• Trump said that the U.S. will see factories, plants, and equipment “pour into” the country at historic levels.
• He also said that these investments will create millions of additional high-paying jobs for Americans.
• Trump added that the U.S. will have a “full blockade” of ships coming to and from Iranian ports as well as ships carrying anything that is linked to Iran.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced that he has decided to replace the proposed 20% toll on all cargo flowing through the Strait of Hormuz with investment deals with Gulf states.

Trump said in a post on Truth Social that he made the decision following “highly productive conversations” with the leadership of Middle Eastern countries.

“Those investments will be massive but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future,” he said.

Trump added that the U.S. will see factories, plants, and equipment “pour into” the country at historic levels. He said that this will also create millions of additional high-paying jobs for Americans.

“America is winning again, winning like never before. The days of Iran killing hundreds of thousands of people, including 52,000 protestors, are over,” he said.

Trump Says US Will Have A ‘Full Blockade’ Of Iranian Ports

Trump added that the U.S. will have a “full blockade” of ships coming to and from Iranian ports as well as ships carrying anything that is linked to Iran. “The Strait of Hormuz is open to all ship traffic except for Iran — and that is because of their lying, violent, malicious leadership, which is taking them down the path of total destruction,” he said.

Iran had previously proposed charging transit fees for vessels navigating the Strait of Hormuz, drawing opposition from the U.S.

On Monday, Trump announced a proposal that echoed Iranian demands. He said the funding would cover all necessary costs to ensure safety and security in what he described as a highly volatile region. Trump also said that the U.S. would henceforth be known as “The Guardian of the Hormuz Strait.”

UN Agency Opposed Transit Fees

The International Maritime Organization, a United Nations agency, opposed transit fees for vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a CNBC report.

“We have always been consistent on our stance on fees – IMO stands firmly against charging fees for passage through straits used for international navigation,” a spokesperson of the IMO said, according to the report.

The spokesperson added that there is no legal basis to charge tolls for merely transiting through the Strait of Hormuz.

Crude Oil Prices Remain On The Boil

Crude oil prices rose on Tuesday amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures expiring in August were up 1.74%, hovering around $79.5 per barrel. Brent crude futures expiring in September were up 2.48%, hovering around $85.37 a barrel.

The United States Oil Fund ETF (USO) was up nearly 2%, while the ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil ETF (UCO) edged up by 0.1%.

At the time of writing, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 index, rose 0.14%; the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ) gained 0.93%; and the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) declined 0.24%. Retail sentiment on Stocktwits regarding the S&P 500 ETF was in ‘bullish’ territory.

Also See: Warsh Criticizes Fed’s 2020 Framework, Says It Wasn’t First Central Bank To Seek ‘A Little More Inflation And End Up With A Lot More’

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