Trump Imposes 10% Tariff on Uninhabited Australian Island, Sparking Confusion

US President Donald Trump has levied a 10% tariff against Australia, which includes the unpopulated Heard and McDonald Islands. Without inhabitants or commerce, the move has left everyone perplexed.

Navi Mumbai : When US President Donald Trump stepped onto the podium in the White House Rose Garden to announce what he referred to as “Liberation Day Tariffs,” many expected a fresh wave of economic actions. But few could have imagined that his crackdown would reach as far as uninhabited islands.

As part of a broad 10% tariff applied across all US trading partners, the Trump administration also threw in the Heard and McDonald Islands—a sparsely inhabited Australian island in the sub Antarctic Indian Ocean. Yes, nobody inhabits it.

Why an Empty Island?

A White House spokesperson quoted by Axios said the islands were included just because they are within Australian jurisdiction. Trump showed a poster detailing the regions affected and handed out printed pages listing different trade tariffs in his address. One of the pages asserted that the islands already charge a 10% tariff on US products, referring to “currency manipulation and trade barriers” in the footnote. In turn, the US has imposed “discounted reciprocal tariffs” at the same level.

A Distant, Cold Target

Heard and McDonald Islands, which the Australian government has called “one of the wildest and remotest places on Earth,” have no inhabitants other than penguins, seals, and seabirds. The Australian Antarctic Program adds that it takes close to 10 days by ship from Fremantle, Western Australia, to get to the islands.

Notwithstanding their absolute absence of human inhabitants or economic activity the islands now share the same US tariffs as Australia proper.

Australia Responds

The unexpected move did not pass without notice by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who responded with a blend of irony and worry. In an X (previously Twitter) message, he stated:

“Anywhere on earth is vulnerable. These tariffs are not surprising, but they are unnecessary. Other nations will be more affected by today’s announcement than Australia—but no country is better positioned than Australia.”

Some Australian territories, like the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Christmas Island, and Norfolk Island, were on the list too. In yet another bizarre irony, Norfolk Island with a mere 2,000 inhabitants—was slapped with a 29% tariff, much greater than mainland Australia’s 10%.

Although there are some analysts who suspect that this is a mistake or an overzealous application of policy, others view it as part of Trump’s unorthodox style of trade policy. Whichever the intention is, one thing is clear—US tariffs are now being applied on an island that is inhabited by no one, and no American import or export has occurred in almost a decade.

For the time being, it looks like even penguins in the sub-Antarctic cannot escape global trade wars.