The Tariffing of Transit at Hormuz: Legal Aspects and Systemic Implications
A transit charge, cryptocurrency insurance, and sanctions countermeasures measured against the legal regime of international straits
Between mid-May and mid-June 2026, three distinct but converging measures were introduced in connection with transit through the Strait of Hormuz: a transit charge levied per barrel, a maritime insurance platform settled in cryptocurrency, and, on the Chinese side, a measure prohibiting domestic firms from complying with United States sanctions. Taken together, they operate on three planes — tariff, financial-technical, and legal — and amount to a parallel framework for the governance of passage. This report sets out the verified facts, distinguishes the elements that remain unconfirmed, and assesses the measures against the regime that international law reserves for straits used for international navigation, situating the question within its historical continuity. The central legal issue is whether a coastal State may attach a charge to transit through such a strait; the central strategic issue is what follows, systemically, when it attempts to do so.