Is the U.S. really stepping back from the Strait of Hormuz?
America only imports about 0.4 million barrels per day through it.
Now compare that to the real dependency:
🇨🇳 China — 5.4 mb/d
🇮🇳 India — 2.1 mb/d
🌏 Rest of Asia — 2.0 mb/d
🇰🇷 South Korea — 1.7 mb/d
🇯🇵 Japan — 1.6 mb/d
🇪🇺 Europe — 0.5 mb/d
🇺🇸 U.S. — 0.4 mb/d
For decades, the U.S. has secured the world’s most important oil chokepoint.
But the biggest stakeholder today is China — a country that’s continued buying discounted Iranian oil while pushing back on sanctions.
That leaves Beijing with a massive 5.4 mb/d exposure.
If the U.S. truly pulls back, the real question becomes: who steps in to protect the flow?
Because the answer to that could define global geopolitics in 2026.
Thetradeinsight
