An uninhabited Antarctic outpost populated by penguins. One of many smallest economies on the earth. An Arctic archipelago with extra polar bears than individuals.
To cite Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, it actually does seem that “nowhere on Earth is secure” from U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.
Trump rattled markets, manufacturers and more Wednesday asserting a baseline of 10 per cent tariffs on imports into the USA — and much greater on items from some locations, notably these with excessive commerce surpluses with the States. In imposing his steep and broad tariffs, analysts have urged Trump has upended the global order.
However to many observers, probably the most puzzling facet of Trump’s list was that it included a number of the most distant and smallest territories and islands on the earth. Locations that, in some instances, are largely inhabited by penguins.
Like Australia’s Heard and McDonald Islands within the sub-Antarctic area, one of the crucial distant locations on earth, and which, in response to the Australian government website, have solely been visited by people about 242 occasions since 1855.
“The Heard and McDonald Islands are utterly uninhabited. Inhabitants zero. I assume we’ll tariff the seagulls?” wrote Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow on the American Immigration Council, on X.
With that in thoughts, listed below are a few of these territories, the tariffs they face — and what they really export.
British Indian Ocean Territory: 10%
The British Indian Ocean Territory is an archipelago of 58 islands protecting about 640,000 sq. kilometres of ocean, about midway between East Africa and Indonesia.
It is not a vacationer vacation spot. Entry is restricted and also you want a allow to journey there, in response to the territory’s website. It has no everlasting inhabitants, however about 3,000 U.S. and U.Ok. navy personnel and civilian contractors reside on the island of Diego Garcia, in response to the CIA Factbook.
Its U.S. imports totalled about $462,500 US in 2024, in response to the U.S. Census Bureau. Its prime commodities had been pc and digital merchandise, adopted by livestock and livestock merchandise.
In line with the CIA Factbook, all financial exercise is focused on Diego Garcia, the place “development initiatives and varied providers wanted to assist the navy set up are carried out by navy and contract workers from the UK, Mauritius, the Philippines, and the US.”
Heard and McDonald Islands: 10%
The Heard and McDonald Islands within the distant Antarctic collectively kind an uninhabited Australian territory. The largely barren islands between Madagascar and Antarctica have two lively volcanoes and may solely be reached by sea.
“As a result of excessive isolation… along with the persistently extreme climate and sea circumstances, human actions within the area have been, and stay, restricted,” says the Australian authorities’s Antarctic program website.
And but, for causes not instantly clear, U.S. imports by the uninhabited islands totalled $13,590 US in 2024, in response to the U.S. Census Bureau. This largely consisted {of electrical} gear and home equipment, pc and digital packages, and transportation gear.
A report in The Guardian suggests that a number of the information for these islands, and for Norfolk Island, might come from mislabelled shipments.
The CIA Factbook does not checklist any financial exercise for Heard and McDonald Islands, saying they’re “populated by a lot of chook species, seals, and penguins,” and that “the islands are primarily used for analysis, with restricted fishing permitted within the surrounding waters.”
U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping ‘Liberation Day’ reciprocal tariffs had been described as ‘meticulously deliberate,’ however among the many targets are the landlocked African nation of Lesotho, an island house to a U.S. airbase, and Australia’s Heard Island and McDonald Islands — the place most residents are penguins.
Norfolk Island: 29%
Norfolk Island within the Pacific, one other Australian territory, with a inhabitants of round 2,000 individuals, obtained extra extreme tariff therapy.
The Trump administration, in its calculation, says the previous British penal colony costs 58 per cent tariffs on the U.S. — and it responded with a tariff of 29 per cent on the island, whose economic system revolves round tourism. It is about 1,600 kilometres east of Sydney.
Norfolk Island Administrator George Plant, the Australian authorities’s consultant there, was trying into it.
“To my data, we don’t export something to the USA,” he instructed The Related Press. “We do not cost tariffs on something. I can not consider any non-tariff obstacles that might be in place both, so we’re scratching our heads right here.”
Their U.S. imports in 2024 totalled round $191,000 US, in response to the U.S. Census Bureau. The overwhelming majority of those had been below a class referred to as “items returned,” which is merchandise despatched again after it has been imported to the U.S. In any other case, it was largely transportation gear ($25,000 US), and pc and digital merchandise ($14,770 US).
The CIA Factbook says the territory’s economic system is high-income, with key tourism and re-exportation industries.
Norfolk Island, an exterior territory of Australia within the Pacific Ocean, was hit by 29 per cent tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump regardless of having no identified exports to the States. Jesse Schiller and Rachel Evans, two Canadians who run a enterprise on the island, clarify how they’re reacting to the tariff.
Svalbard and Jan Mayen: 10%
Jan Mayen is a small Arctic island, probably that includes extra polar bears than individuals. The CIA Factbook describes it as “desolate” and “barren.”
The one inhabitants on Jan Mayen, a part of Norway since 1930, are workers of the Norwegian navy and the Norwegian Meteorological Institute. The island — 600 kilometres northeast of Iceland — is partly lined by glaciers.
Svalbard is a Norwegian archipelago within the Arctic Ocean. Slightly below 3,000 individuals reside there, most of them on the earth’s northernmost city group, Longyearbyen, in response to the Svalbard tourism website.
The 2 areas now face 10 per cent tariffs. Their U.S. imports in 2024 totalled just below $42,000 US, in response to the U.S. Census Bureau.This largely consisted of non-electrical equipment, adopted by pc and digital merchandise.
In line with the CIA Factbook, Svalbard’s economic system largely consists of coal mining, tourism and analysis, a key whaling and fishing base, and can be house to the World Seed Vault. The factbook does not checklist something for Jan Mayen’s economic system, saying it has been “visited solely often by seal hunters and trappers over the centuries.”
Tokelau: 10%
This nation is made up of three tropical coral islands and is house to 1,500 individuals on a mixed land space of 10 sq. kilometres.
One of many smallest economies within the South Pacific, Tokelau survives on subsistence agriculture, fishing, and finance from New Zealand, which counts the islands as one in all its territories.
Their U.S. imports in 2024 totalled $177,600 US, in response to the U.S. Census Bureau. Practically all of that was below a class referred to as “different particular classification provisions,” or gadgets that do not match neatly into different classes. The CIA Factbook says nearly all of Tokelau’s exports are automobiles, telephones, clothes, iron fasteners and cloth. The U.S. is not listed as one in all its main buying and selling companions.
In line with the Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce website, Tokelau has one of many smallest economies on the earth, and its essential sources of income are gross sales of copra (dried coconut merchandise), postage stamps, memento cash, handicrafts and remittances from relations in New Zealand.
Cocos (Keeling) Islands: 10%
One other Australian territory, these 27 coral islands are positioned within the Indian Ocean between Australia and Indonesia, and make up about 14 sq. kilometres. Solely about 593 individuals reside there, in response to the CIA Factbook.
Its economic system is basically based mostly on agriculture (resembling bananas, pawpaws, and coconuts), tourism and copra merchandise.
For a small set of islands, its U.S. imports had been on the bigger aspect at about $1.1 million US, in response to the U.S. Census Bureau. The most important class was “items returned,” adopted by pc and electronics merchandise and transportation gear.
The CIA Factbook says the islands ship 31 per cent of its exports — ships — to the U.S.
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