Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he was abandoning his plan mentioned the day before for a 20% tax on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, which will be replaced by trade agreements with the Gulf States.
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The American president declared on his Truth Social network that he had “decided” to replace this “remuneration corresponding to 20% of the value of the cargoes” of the ships with “trade and investment agreements that the different Gulf States will make with the United States”.
“I think it’s actually much better this way,” he declared shortly after in the Oval Office alongside Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi.
The Gulf States “are going to invest colossal sums in the United States, and that completely satisfied me,” he added, speaking of compensation.
Capture Truth Social
This turnaround, barely 24 hours after announcing that he wanted to introduce this tax contrary to international law supposed to guarantee freedom of navigation, results from “very productive discussions” with the Gulf countries opposed to any taxation, according to the American president.
At the same time, he reaffirmed his desire to once again impose a “TOTAL blockade” of Iranian ports, which will come into force on Tuesday at 8 p.m. GMT according to the American army.
Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States would now be “the guardians of the Strait of Hormuz”, while hostilities between the United States and Iran have resumed for several days.
For its part, the Iranian military command affirmed that it would not let the United States “interfere” in the strait, and warned its Gulf neighbors against any cooperation with Washington.
