SEOUL, South Korea — Two key U.S. allies, citing the importance of free navigation and economic risk, insist that Iran should not be permitted to charge vessels to transit the Strait of Hormuz.
The issue is urgent, as U.S.-Iran peace talks are scheduled to begin Saturday. Iran is expected to present tolls as a negotiating point.
The implications for the global rules governing free navigation in waters traditionally considered international are huge.
Some 80% of world commerce moves by sea. If a precedent is set for Iranian taxation of transits through the Strait of Hormuz and other nations follow suit by dominating key oceanic chokepoints, then prices will be passed down to consumers and the global economy will face additional inflation.
One complicating factor in the peace talks is that the U.S. is not a signatory to the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, the key global agreement that sets out guidelines for free navigation.
Moreover, President Trump has repeatedly derided America’s allies and dismissed the importance of the Strait of Hormuz to the U.S., given national energy self-sufficiency.
SEE ALSO: NATO chief praises U.K. leadership of Hormuz coalition as Iran seeks control of strait
Reports say Mr. Trump is not only considering the Iranian demand but also may support installing a joint toll booth operation with Tehran.
“We’re thinking of doing it as a joint venture. It’s a way of securing it — also securing it from lots of other people,” Mr. Trump told ABC News. “It’s a beautiful thing.”
Whether Oman, across the strait from Iran, would benefit is unclear.
U.S. allies Singapore and Britain have vocally opposed strait tolls, but they stand to benefit if a precedent is set and other nations overlooking key waterways follow suit.
The island nations overlook the world’s two busiest straits for maritime commerce, even busier than the Strait of Hormuz or the Panama Canal.
Dire straits
SEE ALSO: Israel seeks talks with Lebanon as globe rallies to preserve U.S.-Iran ceasefire
“Freedom of navigation means navigation must be free,” British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told the BBC on Thursday. “That applies right across the globe. … It’s crucial for the global economy,” she said.
Defense Secretary John Healey told a press conference that the introduction of “pay-for-passage tolls” would create a “potential principle that could be used and abused by others elsewhere.”
Singapore earlier adopted a similar posture.
“International law and [the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea] is the constitution of the oceans, and this is a right — freedom of navigation is a right and not a privilege — for ships and planes,” Vivian Balakrishnan, foreign affairs minister of the trade-dependent island state, told Singapore’s parliament this week.
Asked whether Singapore would negotiate tolls with Tehran, Mr. Balakrishnan answered in the negative.
“As a matter of principle … I cannot engage in negotiations for safe passage of ships, or toll rates for safe passage of ships, or negotiate on toll rates because to do so would be implicitly eroding this legal principle,” he said on social media.
He also hinted at Singapore’s leverage.
“If you think about global trade, container trade, there is far more flowing through this place,” he said. “And the most important geographical fact which most people are not aware of, the narrowest point in the Strait of Hormuz is 21 nautical miles. The narrowest point in the Strait of Singapore is less than 2 nautical miles.”
Free movement of shipping is critical for global trade.
“Over 80% of the volume of international trade in goods is carried by sea,” notes the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development.
Per the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, “all ships and aircraft enjoy the right of transit passage.” Article 41 states: “States bordering straits shall not hamper transit passage. … There shall be no suspension of transit passage.”
An estimated 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas moves through the Strait of Hormuz. It is one of the world’s five most important maritime chokepoints.
According to the World Economic Forum, the primary strait is the English Channel, between Britain and France. It is the world’s busiest shipping lane, with more than 182,500 annual transits.
The Malacca Strait, between Indonesia on one side and Singapore and Malaysia on the other, links the Indian and Pacific oceans. It is a critical gateway for east-west commerce, with 94,000 vessels annually carrying 30% of the world’s traded goods.
Singapore dominates its tightest point.
In the No. 3 position is the Strait of Hormuz. Energy ships from the Persian Gulf transit through the Strait of Hormuz between Oman and Iran and then into global sea lanes.
Fourth is the trans-Egyptian Suez Canal, connecting the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. An estimated 20,000 vessels use it annually to connect more directly than if they had to cruise around the African continent.
The trans-Panamanian Panama Canal rounds out the top five. It connects the Atlantic and the Pacific. About 14,000 ships transit yearly.
Tolls are charged at the Suez and Panama canals, which are man-made waterways rather than natural geographic features like the other straits.
What next?
Amid a shaky 10-day ceasefire, Vice President J.D. Vance is reportedly en route to Pakistan to negotiate with Iranian officials on ending the 6-week-old war.
As one of the points of its publicly released prenegotiation statement, Iran has demanded continued control of the Strait of Hormuz.
Details are scarce on how that might transpire, but it is widely believed to be charging vessels for transit.
Before the conflict, transit was free. The toll system has been in operation for weeks. Ships from China, Greece, India, Iran, Japan, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia and Thailand have reportedly passed through the strait, though payment conditions are unconfirmed.
Under intense U.S. and Israeli aerial bombardment, Tehran declared the strait closed. That transferred the core battleground of the struggle from the military to the economic domain — to Mr. Trump’s clear frustration.
Closure put upward pressure on global energy prices. Though the U.S. is self-sufficient, it trades with the world, subjecting Americans to rising price pressures from imported goods because of heightened logistical costs.
Neither the U.S. Navy nor any other fleet chose to challenge the multiple perils — sea mines, aerial, underwater and surface drones and missiles — that Iran is believed to have trained on the waterway.
Warships in the narrow strait are tightly constricted and would have minimal early warning of incoming strikes.
• Andrew Salmon can be reached at asalmon@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.