White House official: Trump is “very serious” about the 20% toll collection plan

Deep Tide TechFlow message, July 14, according to US media Semafor, a White House official said that Trump is “very serious” about his plan to impose a 20% toll on goods transiting through the Strait of Hormuz—an initiative he has been trying to push for months. Trump has long been interested in charging a transit fee; in April, he questioned why his government “doesn’t” do it, and threatened to start charging in June if an agreement with Iran were not completed within 60 days. But Trump has not always carried out his ideas, and until this week he had refused to formally announce the plan, partly because some people in his inner circle oppose it.

“This has always been something he wanted to do, but someone tried to convince him to drop it,” the White House official said. “For him, this has always been instinct—he just came back to it again.” It is still unclear how the charging system, which is associated with a restart of the strait maritime blockade, would work, and it is also unclear whether the United States has even consulted with Gulf countries on it. The official said that the plan’s details are still being finalized. (Jin10)