In a move that left many people confused and amused, US President Donald Trump’s new tariffs included a faraway island with no people—just penguins.
Announcing what he called “Liberation Day tariffs” from the White House Rose Garden, Trump imposed a flat 10% tariff on all US trading partners. But what truly caught people’s attention was the inclusion of Heard and McDonald Islands, an uninhabited Australian territory in the sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean.
The decision triggered immediate ridicule online. Social media platforms lit up with users sharing penguin-themed memes, jokes about Trump negotiating with wildlife, and satirical maps of “strategic penguin trade routes.”
According to a White House official quoted by Axios, the islands were added to the list because they fall under Australian jurisdiction. Trump even presented a printed sheet showing the territories affected, one of which claimed the islands imposed a 10% “Tariff to the USA” — citing reasons such as “currency manipulation and trade barriers.” In response, the US applied what it called “discounted reciprocal tariffs.”The islands, described by the Australian government as “one of the wildest and remotest places on Earth,” are home to seals, penguins, seabirds and no permanent human residents. Getting there takes around 10 days by sea from Fremantle in Western Australia, according to the Australian Antarctic Program.
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, also responded on X: “Nowhere on earth is safe. These tariffs are not unexpected, but they are unwarranted. Many other countries will be hit harder by today’s decision than Australia – and no nation is better prepared than Australia.”
Other external Australian territories targeted include Christmas Island, Norfolk Island, and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Notably, Norfolk Island, home to just over 2,100 people, was hit with a 29% tariff — 19 percentage points higher than the rest of Australia.
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