President Trump's rates have saved almost no corner of the earth. Even small, sparsely populated islands that export almost nothing.
Among the countries and areas on sheets of paper that were distributed on Wednesday among reporters in the White House Rose Garden, island and McDonald Islands were heard, Australian areas near Antarctica where many penguins but no people live. The British territory of the Indian Ocean, a collection of islands that are usually uninhabited, were also mentioned, apart from the US and British soldiers stationed on the joint military bases on Diego Garcia.
Some areas are confronted with even higher rates than their countries. Norfolk Island, an Australian territory in the Pacific, is confronted with 29 percent rates, compared to the rate of 10 percent that Mr Trump has imposed on the country.
“I'm not sure if Norfolk Island, with regard to it, is a trade competitor with the gigantic economy of the United States,” said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia. “But that only shows and illustrates the fact that here on earth is safe for this.”
In 2023, Norfolk Island exported $ 655,000 in products to the United States, including leather shoes and vehicle parts, and imported for $ 116,000 in products from the United States, including chemical fertilizers, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity, a data visualization platform.
Other islands subject to a rate percentage of 10 percent include Tokelau, a territory of New Zealand that has fewer than 2,000 inhabitants. The Norwegian islands of Svalbard, who has around 3,000 inhabitants, and Jan Mayen, where the only people are the military staff who operates a weather station and operates coastal services, were also the target.
The White House did not respond to a request for comments about why certain islands with few or no inhabitants were the target.
Réunion, a French territory east of Madagascar with a population of less than 1 million, is confronted with particularly steep rates, by 37 percent, compared to the 20 rates imposed on France. The Falkland Islands, a self-controlling British overseas territory, will have to pay 41 percent or 42 percent rates (the White House gave two different figures) compared to 10 percent percentage that is confronted with Great Britain.
