Trump’s new Strait of Hormuz plan | BBC News

We ask the BBC’s business editor Simon Jack what President Donald Trump’s new strategy in the Strait of Hormuz means for the global economy – and what cards Iran has left to play as it threatens to block the Bab el-Mandeb strait at the mouth of the Red Sea.

President Trump has tried to exert more control over the Strait of Hormuz as the US-Iran ceasefire crumbles.

This week, Trump announced a 20% toll for all ships traversing the strait. But he quickly changed tack after receiving calls from regional leaders, saying he would instead make "massive" trade and investment deals with Gulf states – ostensibly in exchange for safe passage.

"I don’t like the concept of a fee," he later told reporters. "But at the same time, it’s not fair that we’re protecting this Strait for the entire world."

Trump has also claimed that "oil is flowing like never before, thanks to the awesome power of the United States military," although analysts say the traffic of oil and gas tankers through the Strait of Hormuz is still markedly lower than before the US-Israel war with Iran

Some have warned that global oil reserves could be running low.

And the White House is under increasing pressure to stabilise the US economy, and lower gas prices, before midterm elections in November.

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00:00 Introduction
00:014 Donald Trump’s new plan in the Strait of Hormuz
02:10 “Trade and investment” with Gulf countries
03:13 Will there be an oil crisis?
03:50 China’s oil supply
05:40 Iran’s new shipping threat
07:20 Is Trump’s Strait of Hormuz strategy working?
08:49 The price of gas and inflation in the US
09:44 Can Trump stabilise the economy before the midterms?