Crude Oil Slides as Trump Drops Hormuz Shipping Fee Plan
Trump abandoned a proposed 20% fee on cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz, erasing much of crude oil's sharp rally from the prior session.
Crude oil prices fell sharply Thursday after President Donald Trump reversed course on a plan to impose a 20% reimbursement fee on all cargo ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz — a proposal that had blindsided markets just one day earlier and driven a significant rally in oil prices. With the fee idea now shelved, traders wasted little time unwinding the geopolitical risk premium they had priced in, sending crude back toward key technical support levels.
Instead of the shipping levy, the Trump administration said it would pivot toward securing investment commitments in the United States, though the specifics of how those pledges would be structured, tracked, or enforced remain undefined. That ambiguity did little to reassure markets, leaving traders focused squarely on the price action as a barometer of near-term direction.
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From a technical standpoint, crude is sitting at a critical inflection point near $77.84 — precisely where a broken downtrend line connecting a series of lower highs from May and June now acts as potential support. Yesterday's rally had pushed above that trendline in what looked like a bullish breakout; today's pullback is testing whether buyers can defend it. A close above that level would keep the breakout thesis alive and open the door to another leg higher.
If sellers succeed in pushing prices below the $75.99–$77.10 swing zone — an area that previously acted as resistance — the breakout would be considered failed and the near-term bias would shift bearish. In that scenario, the next downside target would be the 100-hour moving average near $74.60. To the upside, the June 18 high of $79.18 represents the first meaningful resistance bulls must clear to reassert control.
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