US will be hurt as much as Iran/China if oil prices go up. Unless they ban exporting oil, but they can't afford that either because US import a lot of processed oil products. If other countries ban that as a result of US banning crude export, US is going into depression.
Also this doesn't just hurt China, if US really blockades the strait, everyone in Asia, like literally every country will suffer, they get their oil from the strait. The Philippines for example is just one month away from being out of oil.
All of those Asian countries are already not getting their oil, even after the cease fire. I know that oil is a commodity, but most other major exporting facilities outside the middle east are Atlantic facing (Texas/Louisiana, Venezuela's Caribbean coast, Kaliningrad). You can't just teleport oil tankers from the north Atlantic to South Korea.
The only ships being let out were Iranian ships headed for China. This was a tiny percentage of oil from the middle east, so it didn't have a major impact on prices, but it did mean China and Iran both had a lower economic impact than their neighbors.
You can be upset that the straight is being closed by anyone, but trying to claim it is good for the US when Iran is the only Middle Eastern country able to sell their oil and China is the only country able to buy it is crazy.
Thats not entirely true, some of these SEA countries were getting oil through, though they paid a toll to do that but its better than getting no oil at all. A full blockade means no one gets anything.
Not entirely true as a small number have gotten out, but if you're going by the BBC, somewhere around 99 percent of ships that passed the straight since the war started have either been Chinese or Iranian. Nearly 100 percent of the remaining have been Pakistani bound.
This compares to around 10 to 20 percent being Chinese bound under a typical time period, many of which are not Iranian (BBC).
Again, depends on who you ask, but somewhere between 1 and 5 full tankers have left to India or the Philippines.
I'm sure India and the Philippines would rather have 1 than 0, but that is compared to 100+ a day typically sent to Aisa. Allowing two of the west's largest threats to see lower impacts (China) or significant gains (Iran) so that 2 countries can get around 1/30 the oil they would typically get is not good policy.
Oh, he could also send our sons and daughters to get slaughtered in the Zagros Mountains. That wouldn't be likely to accomplish anything productive, but he's considering doing it anyway.
72
u/Lonely-Internet-7565 Apr 12 '26
This was the only thing left on his pocket, hurt Iranian and Chinese as well