Even Penguins Can't Escape Trump's Tariffs
President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs on Wednesday took aim at unlikely targets — a collection of remote Antarctic territories uninhibited by humans and best known for penguins, seabirds, and glaciers.
Multiple sources have reported that Dear Leader Trump's tariffs have been imposed on several uninhabited islands and volcanoes. Do a simple web search... plenty of reports on this farce by Trump.
I took info from CNN and The Guardian, but do your own search and read about this absurdity.
The Heard and MacDonald Islands, in the Antarctic, have no exports because nobody lives there....well, penguins do.
I wonder how they took the news?
The CIA World Factbook describes the uninhabited islands, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as “80% ice-covered” and “bleak” in the case of Heard Island and the McDonald Islands as “small” and “rocky.”
The Christmas Island and Cocos Keeling Islands, which are Australian external territories, were hit with 10% tariffs. According to the latest available data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Cocos Keeling Islands have a human population of less than 600 people. Is Trump having a war with Christmas now?
The Australian territory, the Cocos Islands, with a population of 600 people, sends 32% of its exports – ships – to the US, according to the CIA Factbook, and they now face a 10% tariff.
On the opposite side of the planet, the small Norwegian island and former whaling station of Jan Mayen faces 10% tariffs. But no one lives there permanently (a few military personnel rotate in), and it has an economy of zero, according to the CIA Factbook, which calls it a “desolate, mountainous” island. I thought Trump loves the military?
Tokelau is a self-administered territory of New Zealand consisting of three atolls in the South Pacific Ocean with a population of about 1,600, according to the CIA Factbook. It has an economy of about $8 million and exports of around $100,000, the CIA says. Now, it too faces 10% tariffs.
One enclave hit particularly hard by Trump’s tariffs is Saint Pierre and Miquelon, a French territory of eight small islands near the Canadian province of Newfoundland. With a population of about 5,000 people, its “the sole remaining vestige of France’s once vast North American possessions,” the CIA Factbook says. Its exports – “processed crustaceans, shellfish,” according to the CIA – are now subject to a whopping US tariff of 50%, way more than France faces (20%) as part of the European Union.
The only place to face tariffs as high as Saint Pierre and Miquelon is Lesotho, a country of 2.2 million people surrounded by South Africa. It actually sends 20% of its $900 million in yearly exports – “diamonds, garments, wool, power equipment, bedding,” the CIA says –to the US. Those will now face 50% tariffs.
In some ways, the Trump administration is hitting places of high importance to Washington and US national security.
The British Indian Ocean Territory faces a 10% tariff. It’s populated only by about 3,000 British and American military personnel and contractors at the Diego Garcia airbase. The CIA Factbook lists its major export as fish, but it’s unclear who does the fishing (or who buys it).
The Marshall Islands, a group of 34 atolls and islands in the North Pacific, is home to 82,000 people and a key American military installation, the US Army Garrison Kwajalein, which helps in ballistic missile testing and tracking.
Washington is responsible for the defense of the Marshall Islands under a Compact of Free Association. The CIA says it has exports of about $130 million a year, though the US is not listed as a top destination. Those now face 10% tariffs if coming to the US.
Multiple sources have reported that Dear Leader Trump's tariffs have been imposed on several uninhabited islands and volcanoes. Do a simple web search... plenty of reports on this farce by Trump.
I took info from CNN and The Guardian, but do your own search and read about this absurdity.
The Heard and MacDonald Islands, in the Antarctic, have no exports because nobody lives there....well, penguins do.
I wonder how they took the news?
The CIA World Factbook describes the uninhabited islands, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as “80% ice-covered” and “bleak” in the case of Heard Island and the McDonald Islands as “small” and “rocky.”
The Christmas Island and Cocos Keeling Islands, which are Australian external territories, were hit with 10% tariffs. According to the latest available data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Cocos Keeling Islands have a human population of less than 600 people. Is Trump having a war with Christmas now?
The Australian territory, the Cocos Islands, with a population of 600 people, sends 32% of its exports – ships – to the US, according to the CIA Factbook, and they now face a 10% tariff.
On the opposite side of the planet, the small Norwegian island and former whaling station of Jan Mayen faces 10% tariffs. But no one lives there permanently (a few military personnel rotate in), and it has an economy of zero, according to the CIA Factbook, which calls it a “desolate, mountainous” island. I thought Trump loves the military?
Tokelau is a self-administered territory of New Zealand consisting of three atolls in the South Pacific Ocean with a population of about 1,600, according to the CIA Factbook. It has an economy of about $8 million and exports of around $100,000, the CIA says. Now, it too faces 10% tariffs.
One enclave hit particularly hard by Trump’s tariffs is Saint Pierre and Miquelon, a French territory of eight small islands near the Canadian province of Newfoundland. With a population of about 5,000 people, its “the sole remaining vestige of France’s once vast North American possessions,” the CIA Factbook says. Its exports – “processed crustaceans, shellfish,” according to the CIA – are now subject to a whopping US tariff of 50%, way more than France faces (20%) as part of the European Union.
The only place to face tariffs as high as Saint Pierre and Miquelon is Lesotho, a country of 2.2 million people surrounded by South Africa. It actually sends 20% of its $900 million in yearly exports – “diamonds, garments, wool, power equipment, bedding,” the CIA says –to the US. Those will now face 50% tariffs.
In some ways, the Trump administration is hitting places of high importance to Washington and US national security.
The British Indian Ocean Territory faces a 10% tariff. It’s populated only by about 3,000 British and American military personnel and contractors at the Diego Garcia airbase. The CIA Factbook lists its major export as fish, but it’s unclear who does the fishing (or who buys it).
The Marshall Islands, a group of 34 atolls and islands in the North Pacific, is home to 82,000 people and a key American military installation, the US Army Garrison Kwajalein, which helps in ballistic missile testing and tracking.
Washington is responsible for the defense of the Marshall Islands under a Compact of Free Association. The CIA says it has exports of about $130 million a year, though the US is not listed as a top destination. Those now face 10% tariffs if coming to the US.
