President Donald Trump announced on Monday that the United States would impose a 20% toll on the value of any cargo being transported by a vessel transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Trump further announced the reintroduction of a blockade on vessels transiting Iranian ports. On Tuesday, Trump said he would replace the toll with new deals by the Sunni-Arab monarchies to invest in the U.S. But he insisted that the blockade would remain in place.This is good news. The reintroduction of the blockade is a deserved response to continuing Iranian attacks in the strait. Trump is also right to abandon his toll proposal. It was extortionate, breached international maritime law, and set a terrible precedent that would have encouraged Iran’s own toll demands in the strait and future Chinese toll demands in the Western Pacific. Hence why Iran’s foreign minister trolled Trump online following his announcement.That said, Trump’s purpose in announcing the toll was probably not to generate revenue. It’s also unlikely Trump intended to actually carry through the toll. Instead, Trump was likely attempting to increase international pressure on Tehran to re-engage in credible diplomacy with Washington. Recent U.S. strikes targeting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also appear designed to undermine the Revolutionary Guard in Iranian political deliberations, reflecting U.S. assessments that the Guard is the primary obstacle to ending this conflict in a viable manner.