Brent crude futures are trading around $103 a barrel early Monday morning amid U.S. strikes on Iran’s Kharg Island oil export hub. Concerns about tanker congestion in the Strait of Hormuz, however, appear to be easing.
A flurry of weekend headlines suggests that the Trump administration is racing to reopen the Hormuz chokepoint and avert a further energy shock in global markets. According to a new Axios report, plans for a multinational naval coalition could be unveiled as soon as this week.
Hormuz Tanker Traffic
In a Truth Social post on Saturday, Trump said the U.S. and allied countries would send warships to the Hormuz area to reopen commercial shipping lanes. He called on China, France, Japan, South Korea, and the U.K. to help.
On board Air Force One later that day, he told reporters he “demands” that NATO countries and other nations heavily dependent on Gulf crude oil and other product imports help with the naval operation.
“We are talking to other countries about policing the straits. It will be nice to have other countries policing with us. We will help. We are getting a good response,” Trump said.
In a Sunday interview with the Financial Times, the president warned that he could delay his upcoming summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping if Beijing does not participate in the naval coalition.
Trump told FT, “It’s only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there.”
“If there’s no response or if it’s a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO,” he added.
While Beijing has yet to publicly respond to Trump’s request, the state-run Global Times rejected Trump’s plan to spread the risk “of a war that Washington started and can’t finish.” GT explained on Sunday night why Beijing wouldn’t join the naval coalition.
“Crowding a volatile waterway with warships from multiple nations doesn’t create security. It creates flashpoints. If any single vessel were struck, the consequences could rapidly spiral beyond anyone’s control,” GT said. This is “more a carefully structured transfer of risk.”
Bloomberg noted, “A delay to the summit could suit Beijing. China had previously proposed that Trump arrive at the end of April to allow more time for preparations, according to a person familiar with the matter,” adding, “Such a postponement would allow for more discussion on security and diplomatic issues, including self-ruled Taiwan, which have so far not featured prominently on the planning agenda.”
The Iran-US conflict adds yet another layer of tension ahead of the Trump-Xi summit. Both sides are expected to wrap up trade talks in Paris on Monday, with potential areas of agreement in tariffs, agriculture, energy purchases, fentanyl, and Taiwan.
