Egyptians reject free passage through canal - Egypt - Al-Ahram Weekly

Al-Ahram Weekly

30-04-2025

Trump's proposal that American ships should pass through the Suez Canal 'free of charge' was lashed out by MPs and political experts
'American ships, both military and commercial, should be allowed to travel, free of charge, through the Panama and Suez canals! Those canals would not exist without the United States of America,' posted US President Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform on 26 April.
The Republican president added that he has asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio to take care of the situation.
Some Western media reports claimed Trump raised the issue in a phone call with President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi four weeks ago, presenting the proposal as Egypt's 'contribution' to US efforts to end Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping which have negatively impacted Suez Canal revenues.
Trump's post appeared a few weeks after the US Federal Shipping Commission announced an investigation into 'global maritime choke points', including the Suez Canal, and 'unfavourable conditions' for US trade.00
Professors of international law, maritime trade experts, and MPs pushed back against Trump's suggestion.
Ibrahim Al-Anani, professor of international law at Ain Shams University, said Egypt has every right to impose fees on ships passing through the Suez Canal and has been doing so since the 1888 Constantinople Convention. Any attempt by another state to impinge on Egypt's right to regulate traffic through the Suez Canal violates international law and constitutes interference in Egypt's internal affairs.
Al-Anani explained that the Constantinople Convention guarantees freedom of navigation for all commercial and military vessels, except for those belonging to countries at war with Egypt, and provided military vessels do not stop in the canal and unload troops or military equipment.
In a Facebook post, professor of international law Ayman Salama argued that Trump's demand that US shipping be exempted from paying transit fees 'lacks any legal or logical basis' and 'ignores the principles of equality between states and the rule of international law'.
'Traffic in the Suez Canal is regulated by the Constantinople Convention which gives Egypt the absolute right to charge fees against passing through the canal,' said Salama.
Major General Osama Mahmoud, senior advisor at Egypt's Military Command and Staff College, told Al-Arabiya TV channel that the 1888 Convention recognises the Suez Canal as an international shipping lane through which all countries have the right to pass in return for paying agreed-upon fees.
Mahmoud inferred that in saying 'the Suez Canal would not exist without the US,' Trump is suggesting that 'the US is protecting the Suez Canal from the Houthi attacks, and that Egypt should contribute to America's military campaign against the Houthis through exempting its ships from the fees required for passing through the canal.'
A month ago, Trump announced that the US army would target the Iran-backed Houthis through daily strikes until they are no longer a threat to shipping in the Red Sea.
Tayseer Matar, a member of the Senate and Secretary-General of the Egyptian Parties Alliance, told the Weekly that Trump's statement that the Suez Canal would not exist without the US is exaggerated.
'Egypt did not ask the US to attack the Houthis to protect the Suez Canal. Egypt can defend its own interests and firmly believes Houthi attacks will come to an end only when Israel stops its war on Gaza,' said Matar. 'The US' military campaign against the Houthis is mainly to protect Israel and American military and commercial ships which have faced Houthi rocket attacks since the war erupted in Gaza in October 2023.'
Gamal Zahran, professor of political science at Suez Canal University and a former independent MP, notes that 'Egypt's official reaction to Trump's controversial statement has been cool.'
'Egyptian officials do not like to become involved in verbal clashes with foreign leaders, particularly the US, with which Egypt has a strategic relationship,' said Zahran.
He believes talk about the free passage of US ships is an attempt to ratchet up political pressure.
'Trump is a businessman who does not understand the language of international law and believes that nothing is free, that countries around the world should pay against American services,' said Zahran. Trump wants Western Europe to increase its contributions to NATO, rich Arab Gulf countries to invest trillions in the US, Ukraine to give concessions in return for US military assistance, and 'is seeking to extract concessions from Egypt in return for attacking the Houthis'.
While Trump's push to displace Palestinians from Gaza and his suggestion US ships be exempted from canal fees are placing strains on US-Egypt relations, 'Egyptian officials are pragmatic and will refrain from issuing any direct comments on Trump's statements,' says Zahran.
He ruled out that Egypt or Panama would exempt ships from transit fees since to do so erodes their sovereignty.
Diplomatic sources in Washington told the Western media that Egypt has made no promises regarding free passage, focusing instead on political efforts to end the war in Gaza and ease tensions in the Red Sea.
In parliament's plenary session on Sunday, independent MP and journalist Mustafa Bakri argued that while Trump's statement on the Suez Canal aims to exert pressure on Egypt to join the American military campaign against the Houthis, 'the true aim of this campaign is the militarisation and control of the Red Sea and domination over the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait.'
The Suez Canal was constructed by the French-led Suez Canal Company under Ferdinand de Lesseps. Work began in 1859 and was completed in 1869. Britain, France, and Israel launched a tripartite aggression against Egypt when late president Gamal Abdel-Nasser nationalised the canal in July 1956.
The nationalisation asserted Egypt's full sovereignty over the canal and ended colonial claims.
Ten per cent of global maritime trade normally passes through the canal. However, ongoing attacks by Yemeni Houthi rebels against ships linked to Israel, America, and Britain have negatively affected the waterway. The number of ships transiting the canal has almost halved.
President Al-Sisi said last month that Egypt's losses due to the Houthi attacks on shipping amounted to around $7 billion in one year. Revenues from the canal fell last year by 61 per cent, from around $10.2 billion in 2023 to $3.9 billion in 2024.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 1 May, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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