U.S. President Donald Trump’s demands for a coalition to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz appeared to fall on deaf ears on Monday as allies Japan and Australia said they were not planning to send navy vessels to the Middle East to escort ships through the vital waterway.
With the U.S.-“Israeli” war on Iran creating turmoil across the Middle East and shaking up global energy markets in its third week, Trump on Sunday insisted that nations relying heavily on oil from the Gulf have a responsibility to protect the strait through which 20% of the world’s energy transits.
Markets in Asia reacted cautiously, with Brent crude LCOc1rising more than 1% above $104.50 and regional share markets mostly weaker amid concerns about the risk to Middle East oil facilities and after Trump’s request for allies to get more involved.
“I’m demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory because it is their territory,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on the way from Florida to Washington. “It’s the place from which they get their energy.”
Trump said his administration has already contacted seven countries, but did not identify the countries. In a weekend social media post he hoped China, France, Japan, South Korea, Britain and others would participate.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Monday her country, constrained by its war-renouncing constitution, has no plan to dispatch naval vessels to escort ships in the Middle East from where it gets 95% of its oil.
“We have not made any decisions whatsoever about dispatching escort ships. We are continuing to examine what Japan can do independently and what can be done within the legal framework,” Takaichi told parliament.
Australia, which also relies heavily on fuels made with Middle Eastern crude, said it will not send naval ships to assist in reopening the strait either.
“We know how incredibly important that is, but that’s not something that we’ve been asked or that we’re contributing to,” Catherine King, a member of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s cabinet, said in an interview with state broadcaster ABC.
