TechFlow reports, July 14, according to US media Semafor, a White House official stated that Trump is "very serious" about his plan to impose a 20% toll on goods passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a plan he has been wanting to advance for months.
Trump has long intended to impose tolls, questioning his administration "why not" do so in April, and threatening to charge tolls in June if an agreement with Iran was not completed within 60 days. However, Trump does not always put his ideas into action, and until this week, he had refused to officially announce the plan, partly because there was opposition within his inner circle.
"This has always been what he wanted to do, but some people tried to persuade him to give it up," the White House official said. "For him, this has always been his instinctive decision; he just circled back to it." It remains unclear how this toll system, associated with resuming the maritime blockade of the strait, will operate, nor is it clear whether the US has even consulted with Gulf countries on this. According to the official, details of the plan are still being finalized. (Jin10)
