Trump slaps tariffs on Antarctic islands with little to no humans, full of penguins
There are no known exports from Norfolk Island to the United States and no tariffs or known non-tariff trade barriers on goods coming to Norfolk Island
Residents of Norfolk Island, off the coast of Australia, are in for a surprise: Donald Trump has imposed a 29% duty on their exports as part of his "Liberation Day" tariff.
Except, most residents in Norfolk are penguins. And they aren't known for producing any guano, which could possibly be the only thing worth exporting.
Human population? 2,188.
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Trump's sudden imposition of tariffs has raised eyebrows, but how sweeping it is still manages to stir discussions.
Norfolk, however, isn't the only anomaly on the list.
Take Heard Island and McDonald Islands as examples. These two form an external territory of Australia and are among the remotest places on Earth, accessible only via a two-week boat voyage from Perth on Australia's west coast.
They are completely uninhabited, with the last visit from people believed to be nearly 10 years ago.
But they, too, have been hit with a 10% tariff on goods.
Reacting to the duties, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, "Nowhere on Earth is safe."
In 2023, Norfolk Island exported $655,000 (A$1.04m) worth of goods to the US, with its main export being $413,000 (A$658,000) worth of leather footwear, according to Observatory of Economic Complexity data.
But George Plant, the administrator of Norfolk Island, disputed the data.
He told the Guardian, "There are no known exports from Norfolk Island to the United States and no tariffs or known non-tariff trade barriers on goods coming to Norfolk Island."
Albanese said on Thursday, "Norfolk Island has got a 29% tariff. I'm not quite sure that Norfolk Island, with respect to it, is a trade competitor with the giant economy of the United States, but that just shows and exemplifies the fact that nowhere on Earth is safe from this."
