The volcanic islands of the Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands near Antarctica, which are covered in glaciers and home exclusively to penguins, have been hit with a 10% tariff on goods announced by US President Donald Trump. The Guardian reports this.
Heard Island and McDonald Islands, which form an external territory of Australia, are reportedly among the most remote places on Earth. The journey to them will take two weeks by boat from Perth on Australia's west coast. They are completely uninhabited and were last visited by people almost 10 years ago.
Despite this, Heard Island and McDonald Islands appear on the list of "countries" published by the White House for which new trade tariffs will be imposed.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: "Nowhere on earth is safe."
The publication notes that the external territories are part of Australia and are not self-governing, but have a unique relationship with the federal government. The White House list includes territories such as the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Christmas Island and Norfolk Island.
Norfolk Island, with a population of 2,188, has been hit with a 29% tariff by the US.
In 2023, Norfolk Island exported USD 655,000 worth of goods to the US, with leather footwear being the main export.
However, George Plant, the administrator of Norfolk Island, disputes this data.
"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," he said in a comment to the publication.
It is noted that even more surprising are the export figures from Heard and McDonald Islands. There is a fishery on this territory, but there are no buildings or human habitation.
Despite this, according to the World Bank for Export, in 2022 the United States imported goods worth USD 1.4 million from Heard and McDonald Islands, almost all of which were "machinery and electrical" equipment. The publication was unable to find out what these goods were.
Five years before that, the volume of imports from Heard and McDonald Islands ranged from USD 15,000 to USD 325,000 per year.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, US President Donald Trump officially launched a tariff, or "trade" war against all states, introducing tariffs from 10% to 50% on imports depending on the country of origin.
In particular, the United States introduced a separate tariff on Ukrainian imports of 10%. This is the minimum basic level of duty for countries that have fallen under the new trade restrictions. At the same time, the list does not include the aggressor country russia, North Korea, Cuba and Belarus.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the United States' decision to impose import tariffs, announced by President Donald Trump on April 2, "a major blow to the world economy" and said that the European Union is preparing countermeasures in response.
Who we are: About us, Contacts. How we write news and our principles: Editorial code. We did our best. If you found this valuable – please support us.
To request a correction, please send an email.