{"id":374034,"date":"2026-04-04T03:24:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T03:24:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/374034\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T03:24:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T03:24:17","slug":"why-us-still-needs-strait-of-hormuz-for-sake-of-global-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/374034\/","title":{"rendered":"Why US still needs Strait of Hormuz for sake of global economy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Live updates: Follow the latest news on US-Iran war<\/a><\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump<\/a> this week said his country does not need the Strait of Hormuz. Is he right?<\/p>\n

Analysts say that while the US is a net energy exporter and it is not reliant on oil imports through the vital strait<\/a>, it is still tied to the global economy and will probably feel the inflationary headwinds and pain suffered by other nations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe US is far less directly exposed to Hormuz than Asian and some European importers because its domestic shale output has already cut Gulf dependence sharply,\u201d Maryam Salman, a principal consultant at Dubai-based Qamar Energy, told The National.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo what Mr Trump is making is a ‘relative-exposure argument,’\u201d she said. The world’s biggest economy is \u201cmuch less vulnerable than countries like China, India, Japan, South Korea, or [in] Europe\u201d but it still is vulnerable in relative terms.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, the US may withstand the disruption better than most \u2013 in the very near-term \u2013 but it cannot economically insulate itself from the disruption,\u201d Ms Salman added.<\/p>\n

Trump’s ‘hollow’ logic<\/p>\n

Mr Trump said the US imports \u201calmost no oil\u201d through the Strait of Hormuz and \u201cwon’t be taking any in the future\u201d \u2013 but numbers indicate otherwise.<\/p>\n

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates imports from the Gulf make up about 7 per cent of all crude coming into America \u2013 not a big number, especially compared to import-dependent countries in Asia, but \u201cnot nothing\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr Trump\u2019s logic is political first, energy-economic second \u2026 what he’s really saying is that the US no longer sees itself as the primary economic ‘hostage’ of Hormuz,\u201d Ms Salman said.<\/p>\n

Iran has effectively closed the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil usually passes, to all but a few vessels, only allowing certain countries \u201cfriendly\u201d to the Iranian regime to use it.<\/p>\n

Play\"\"<\/p>\n

Gulf states seek UN mandate for force to protect Hormuz<\/p>\n

That leads to a critical point: Mr Trump may claim the US has no interest in the strait but the disruption there not only affects other countries but also America \u2013 heavily reflected in soaring petrol prices, which Washington has framed as short-term pain.<\/p>\n

The President’s logic is \u201chollow\u201d, as the US regional alliance security depends entirely on the reliability of Middle Eastern oil supplies to the global market\u201d, said Francesco Sassi, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Oslo in Norway.<\/p>\n

‘False’<\/p>\n

US crude oil production increased by about 3 per cent, or around 350,000 barrels per day, in 2025, setting a new annual production record of 13.6 million bpd, the EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook report showed this week.<\/p>\n

And while the number of active rigs per month was 5 per cent less than in 2024 and 1 per cent fewer wells were drilled, efficiency improvements helped US production to grow, the Washington-based agency said.<\/p>\n

In his televised address, the President claimed the US has ample oil, is \u201ctotally independent\u201d and does not require Middle East crude. He even told his Nato allies, who have refused to join US-Israel war on Iran, to use their own military might to ensure the Hormuz pass reopens for shipping.<\/p>\n

\u201cFalse. As you can see, the oil prices [in the US] are currently above $4 per gallon,\u201d Mr Sassi said. The last time US petrol prices were at this level was in 2022, shortly after Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n

The expansion of US domestic oil and gas production tipped the balance in favour of the US, as it is relatively less sensitive to global energy price movements.<\/p>\n

The country has maintained a focus on preventing economic shocks that can spread through financial markets and its partner economies, said Irina Tsukerman, a geopolitical analyst in New York.<\/p>\n

Hormuz, however, \u201cretained importance because disruptions there could still influence inflation pressure, investor sentiment and political stability through global reactions\u201d, she told The National.<\/p>\n

Domino effect<\/p>\n

The Strait of Hormuz is relatively small \u2013 with its narrowest point at about 54km \u2013 but the consequences of its closure are profound.<\/p>\n

The brunt of the conflict is already being felt by consumers and businesses, with investors becoming increasingly wary.<\/p>\n

Play\"\"<\/p>\n

Experts weigh impact of Iran war on global energy<\/p>\n

The situation has introduced a new layer of uncertainty that has reverberated across several asset classes and its impact on different stakeholders varying, Ms Salman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe perception that the US may be less willing to act as a primary guarantor of free passage will add a persistent geopolitical risk premium, even when physical flows partially resume,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

A serious disruption in Hormuz cannot remain a regional matter: it would influence production cycles in Asia, economic sentiment in Europe and shipping patterns across the global economy, analysts say.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor investor sentiment, the effect is mixed \u2013 on one hand, it seems to be supportive for US energy equities and export-linked infrastructure, but on the other, it is understandably creating caution across shipping, refining, energy-intensive sectors, where uncertainty is delaying investment decisions,\u201d Ms Salman said.<\/p>\n

US interest in the strait today reflects a long evolution from concerns about physical supply to maintaining stability within a highly interconnected global economy, Ms Tsukerman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe continued movement of energy through that corridor supports steady expectations about pricing, partner stability, and the functioning of trade networks that continue to shape American prosperity and influence.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Live updates: Follow the latest news on US-Iran war US President Donald Trump this week said his country…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":374035,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[114,2867,54,184,85,87,46,2865,789,208],"class_list":{"0":"post-374034","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-business-team","10":"tag-donald-trump","11":"tag-economy","12":"tag-il","13":"tag-iran","14":"tag-israel","15":"tag-standard","16":"tag-story","17":"tag-us"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374034\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}