WSJ What’s News - Iran Is Trying to Choke Off Traffic in the Strait of Hormuz

Episode Date: March 11, 2026

P.M. Edition for Mar. 11. Three commercial ships were hit today near the Strait of Hormuz as Iran steps up its efforts to close off that critical shipping route for oil. WSJ Middle East correspondent Jared Malsin discusses why the Trump administration is turning down requests for military escorts through the strait, and what it would take to reopen it. Plus, U.S. inflation held steady in February. But, as we hear from Journal investing columnist Spencer Jakab, that data doesn’t incorporate the Middle East conflict, so the real question is what comes next. And the Trump administration is preparing to announce new tariff investigations that could result in higher tariffs on a number of countries. Alex Ossola hosts. Boycotting Target: A WSJ Podcast Series Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Over 500,000 new listings every month based on average new for sale and rental listings, July 24 to June 2025. Inflation held steady in February, but the bigger question is what comes next? Plus, why the U.S. military isn't helping oil tankers get through the strait of Hormuz. What American defense officials are looking at is saying, like, if we send our people in there, they're going to be in the line of fire themselves. It's not safe for them either. So that's why they're not currently offering that to the oil or shipping industries. And Democrats are pitching tax cuts for millions.

of Americans to try to win over voters. It's Wednesday, March 11th. I'm Alex O'Soula for the Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today. A new report out today from the Labor Department showed that consumer prices rose 2.4% in February from a year earlier. That's the same pace as in January

and pretty much what economists expected. But these numbers are from before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, and the war threatens to raise a lot of prices. WS.J. Investing columnist Spencer Jacob joins us now to discuss the question on everyone's mind. Just what can February's numbers tell us? Spencer, under normal circumstances, these numbers would have been a key reading on what prices are doing. How does the Middle East War change that? Well, yes, it changes it a lot. It's a bit like saying, you know, other than that, how did you like to play, Mrs. Lincoln? I mean, there's a big, big thing that's happened since these numbers were compiled for February. This war, if it lasts a long time, will have an impact not just on energy prices, but on food prices because it affects a lot of the world's fertilizer supply, a lot of just transport generally in the world.

What does the Fed do when you have a big energy price shock? Well, they're kind of scarred by the memories of the 1970s when they tried to initially cut the economy. back into health, which turned out to be a mistake. And really, the answer central bankers have for this is to do nothing, you know, unless there's a very severe recession or the war creates other recessionary effects, they tend not to try to use monetary policy to deal with a commodity price shock. So as the conflict continues, what are some of the numbers that you're going to be keeping an eye on just to gauge a bit of the economic impact? One thing to look at is what's happening in the real world to prices, for example, gasoline prices. Those are already up substantially.

And those have, it's a big effect, especially on middle and working class households, you know, spend a lot of money on gasoline in the United States. But also psychologically, it's a price that everyone knows. It's a price everyone sees. You know, if the price of milk and bread and things like that start to go up as well, which they could. Those are the ones that people get angry about and are aware of. And it affects their behavior in other ways. It affects their propensity to spend, for example. That was WSJ Investing columnist Spencer Jacob. Thanks, Spencer.

Thank you. This morning, we told you the International Energy Agency was proposing a record release of oil reserves to try to bring down crude prices. The IEA has now agreed to do so, and its member countries will release 400 million barrels of oil from emergency stockpiles. This is a major action aiming to alleviate the immediate impacts of of the disruption in markets. But to be clear, the most important thing for a return to stable flows of oil and gas

is the resumption of transit through the state of Hormuz. That was the IEA's executive director, Fatibirul, speaking this morning. Meanwhile, the Strait of Hormuz, that critical shipping lane for the world's oil supply, is still effectively closed. Today, three commercial ships were hit around the strait. The spokesman for Iran's armed forces said the country wouldn't let, quote, a single leader of oil passed through the strait for the benefit of the U.S. and its allies. President Trump said today that oil companies should use the strait.

However, they're not likely to do so until it's safe. I'm joined now by WSJ Middle East correspondent Jared Malson. Jared, the president, suggested that there will be military escorts to help ships cross the strait, but the journals reporting that the U.S. military has turned down request to escort ships through the strait. Why is that? So the administration wants to calm the oil markets down. They're under a lot of pressure to do that right now because of the surge in oil prices. So the Trump administration has said it is prepared to offer military escorts for ships if necessary and when the conditions are right.

The conditional phrases on that statement are very important here because what we understand from our reporting is that the Department of Defense and the military are not currently planning to escort any ships until it is safe to do that. The Iranians are attacking ships in the strait, and what we understand from our reporting from U.S. officials is that they do not want to send the Navy into escort any ships as long as that. is still a very real risk. Iran still has the capability to strike using missiles, drones, to mine the strait. It's just very dangerous for any ships to go through there. What are the conditions in the strait that make this so challenging? So it's a very narrow strait. It's somewhere in the range of 24 miles wide, meaning the Iranian coast is very close by. And what one former Navy official told me is that when it comes to the missiles and drones that the Iranians could potentially fire, the U.S. or

allied Navy personnel that would be there would potentially only have seconds to respond to those. One of the analysts, my colleague spoke to, compared it to a killbox, essentially. And so what American defense officials are looking at is saying, like, if we send our people in there, they're going to be in the line of fire themselves. It's not safe for them either. So that's why they're not currently offering that to the oil or shipping industry. What would it take to reopen the strait? What analysts have been telling me is that only a ceasefire, along with some kind of explicit

assurances from the Iranians that they're going to stop shooting at these ships, that's the only thing that would really restore shipping through the strait. That was WSJ reporter, Jared Malson. Thanks, Jared. Thank you. U.S. stocks were mixed today. Financial shares fell, putting pressure on the Dow, which dropped 0.6%. The S&P 500 ended slu.

slightly lower, while the NASDAQ ticked higher. Oil prices kept rising, with Brent Crude, the global benchmark, closing up nearly 5%. We want to know how volatile energy prices are affecting you or your business. Let us know by sending a voice note to WNPOD at WSJ.com or leave us a voicemail at 212-416-4328. Make sure to include your full name and location so we can use your comments on the show. Coming up, everyone from Democratic lawmakers to McDonald's is trying to win over people watching their wallets. We'll get into how they're doing it after the break. Access to affordable credit helps me pay my employees that I don't really need it.

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Tell Congress, stop the Durban Marshall Money Grab for corporate megastores, paid for by the Electronic Payments Coalition. Democrats are out of power, and they're looking for ways to get the attention of voters who are worried about their finances. So senators are coming up with plans that would get rid of federal income taxes for millions of people. Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen is preparing a proposal to end income taxes for people

making under $46,000 and married couples making under $92,000. And New Jersey Senator Cory Booker's pitch would more than double the standard deduction while increasing the child and earned income tax credits. WSJ tax policy reporter Richard Rubin says the plans are an effort to win over voters. What Senator Booker and Senator Van Hollen are doing is trying to address the concern that lots of voters have about the cost of living, and they see a tax cut as a quick, easy to understand way to do it. We shouldn't sort of underestimate the power of simplicity.

We saw in the 2024 campaign how President Trump talked about, no tax on this, no tax on that. It's a bumper singer kind of thing. And that's really kind of what they're aiming to do, is like this sort of mass, big tax cut idea that's a little different from what we expect from Democrats. Rich says that the senators are trying not to increase the budget, deficit, which is expected to grow in the coming years.

So both the Booker and Van Hollen plans, they're designed so that there are tax increases that go along with the tax cuts. Booker is talked about higher corporate taxes and raising the top tax rates. Van Hollen's got a surtax on very high-income people. Their idea is to pay for the things that they're doing. The challenge is this. Any dollar that Democrats are able to raise in new revenue to pay for this is a dollar that they can't use for other initiatives. So these proposals have generated some pushback from others in the party who are like, well, wait a minute. What should be first on our list? When Democrats get to 2029, their first chance to really be in control of everything again, what comes first for the party?

Speaking of affordability, we're exclusively reporting that starting next month, McDonald's is planning to offer a new value menu of items costing $3 and less. It'll also have new $4 breakfast deals. The fast food chain has been pushing for nearly two years to cement its affordability image. And a shopper boycott against Target that has heard its sales may be ending. Last year, a group of activists encouraged shoppers to boycott Target after it backed away from some of its DEI policies. Now their official work on the boycott will end. The activists say that's because Target privately acknowledged a breakdown in trust with the black community. Target has reported 13 straight quarters of week or falling quarterly sales.

An executive said shoppers upset over DEI policy changes have played a role. A target spokesman today said that the company is pleased to be moving forward. Last year, we reported a series about the boycott and its impact on targets bottom line. We'll leave a link to that series in the show notes. The journal has learned that the Trump administration is preparing to announce new tariff investigations over what it considers unfair trade practices. They could result in higher tariffs on a number of other countries. These tariffs are designed to replace the temporary 10% tariff imposed last month

after the Supreme Court ruled that many of Trump's previous tariffs were illegal. And we're exclusively reporting that President Trump ordered the Justice Department to reverse course on defending the White House's sanctions against law firms. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that the department was dropping its defense of executive orders that outlined punishments against specific law firms. People familiar with the matter say that Trump said he didn't sign off on that and expressed displeasure with Justice Department leadership. White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt said the president had confidence in Attorney General Pam Bondi

and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. And that's what's news for this Wednesday afternoon. Today's show is produced by Pierre Bienname with supervising producer Tali Arbell. I'm Alex Osloaf for the Wall Street Journal. We'll be back with a new show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening. If you're early in your career and looking for insight, inspiration, and honest advice, listen to the Capital Ideas podcast. Hear from Capital Group professionals about leaning into the differences that make you unique, making decisions that last, and what it means to lead with purpose.

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