Tariffs on penguins and seals: the surreal headlines of Trump's trade war
The US President has imposed taxes on uninhabited islands with no economic activity.
BarcelonaTrue to form, Donald Trump turned the dangerous situation into a television show on Wednesday. announcement of new global tariffsHe declared a trade war on the world, proclaiming a "day of liberation" from the United States, and announced the new tariffs with a sign with each country's name as if it were the results of the Eurovision Song Contest. And he even indulged in jokes and comments about foreign leaders while unveiling the new tariffs, which shortly afterward would shake the bags and chancelleries around the world. However, the surrealism did not end there: in the complete list of affected territories There are several details that are difficult to explain at first glance. Let's review some of them.
Remote islands without humans
The US president has imposed 10% tariffs on the sub-Antarctic Heard Island and McDonald Islands, an autonomous archipelago of Australia where no one lives and there is no economic activity. "They are not occupied by humans and remain one of the least anthropogenically altered areas in the world," the Australian government specifiesDeclared a World Heritage Site, the islands are inhabited by animals such as penguins and seals, and the human presence is limited to scientific research activities. A similar case is that of the Norwegian island of Jan Mayen, uninhabited and subject to a 10% tariff.
29% for symbolic exports.
Another remote Australian island, Norfolk Island, has also suffered from the US trade war. "It can only be a mistake," reacted Richard Cottle, owner of a concrete mixing business on the island, in statements reported by Reuters. Trump has punished this small volcanic territory, 1,600 kilometers northeast of Sydney and home to some 2,200 people, with tariffs of 29% (more than double the 10% imposed by Australia). According to data from The Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC)In 2023, Norfolk exported goods to the United States worth only $655,000. The main product sold abroad that same year was leather footwear, valued at $413,000.
Taxes on American soldiers
The so-called British Indian Ocean Territory, halfway between Tanzania and Indonesia, is a 60-square-kilometer archipelago administered by London. Trump has imposed a 10% tariff on it, but the only inhabitants of the island territory are some 4,000 British and American soldiers who occupy the military base on Diego Garcia Island. A base, incidentally, that Iran threatened to attack a few days ago as part of the escalating tension with the US.
50% for a small French territory
One of the highest tariffs will be imposed on Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, a French archipelago of eight small islands and about 5,500 inhabitants located 25 kilometers off the coast of Canada. Its exports, mainly crustaceans and shellfish, will now face a tariff of up to 50% in the United States—which is not among its main trading partners—a significantly higher percentage than the 20% that will be imposed on France as a member of the European Union. The reason could be that, according to US government dataIn July 2024, the United States exceptionally imported products from the island worth $3.4 million.
