12 ms·

Trump Imposes Tariffs on Uninhabited Heard and McDonald Islands

21 points by pmags 2y ago

pmags 2y ago
C'mon US administration, April fools was yesterday!
duxup 2y ago
We have always been at war with the penguins!
- tim333 2y ago
  >One of the sheets claims that the Heard and McDonald Islands currently charge a “Tariff to the U.S.A.” of 10 percent, clarifying in tiny letters that this includes "currency manipulation and trade barriers." Retaliation on the penguins is only fair.
jethronethro 2y ago
The administration just didn't want anyone to feel left out, I guess.
kazinator 2y ago
If you don't list this location, perhaps it could be used for helping American buyers evade tariffs. The shipment just wouldn't mention Australia, and somehow slip through the cracks.
- duxup 2y ago
  Doesn’t that mean you have to list all the islands?
  - yorwba 2y ago
    Only those that have their own ISO 3166-1 codes, so may be considered separate countries for trade purposes. (Heard and McDonald are HM. Compare also Hong Kong at HK.)
_lvbh 2y ago
"The president said there will be a "baseline" tariff of 10% on all imports" https://www.newsweek.com/trump-reciprocal-tariff-chart-2054514 https://www.newsweek.com/trump-reciprocal-tariff-chart-20545... The islands aren't actually on the list, just covered by the baseline afaik
- duxup 2y ago
  https://www.wired.com/story/trump-tariffs-antarctic-islands-heard-mcdonald/ https://www.wired.com/story/trump-tariffs-antarctic-islands-... > One of the sheets claims that the Heard and McDonald Islands currently charge a “Tariff to the U.S.A.” of 10 percent, clarifying in tiny letters that this includes "currency manipulation and trade barriers." In return, the sheet says that the US will charge "discounted reciprocal tariffs" on the islands at a rate of 10 percent. They seem to specify some odd islands.
- mandevil 2y ago
  https://x.com/JStein_WaPo/status/1907536257476903047 https://x.com/JStein_WaPo/status/1907536257476903047 first picture clearly shows "Heard and McDonald Island: Tariff charged to the USA including currency manipulation and trade barriers: 10% USA Discounted Reciprocal Tariffs: 10%" and the same for the next line below it, Svalbard and Jan Mayen. That same picture also shows the British Indian Ocean Territory, which as of a few weeks ago is literally just the US Military base at Diego Garcia. They also are listed as charging a 10% tariff including currency manipulation and trade barriers. They specifically called out all of these locations in the papers they handed out to journalists.
  - rsynnott 2y ago
    I mean I'm assuming that these junk numbers were put together at the last minute by some intern when it was realised there was no plan. I seriously doubt anyone involved has ever heard of any of these places; they just made up some numbers and moved on.
defrost 2y ago
Australia's Christmas Island still harbours a Red Menace: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbpvWsBpr4E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbpvWsBpr4E

21 points by pmags 2y ago

pmags 2y ago

C'mon US administration, April fools was yesterday!

duxup 2y ago

We have always been at war with the penguins!

tim333 2y ago
>One of the sheets claims that the Heard and McDonald Islands currently charge a “Tariff to the U.S.A.” of 10 percent, clarifying in tiny letters that this includes "currency manipulation and trade barriers." Retaliation on the penguins is only fair.

jethronethro 2y ago

The administration just didn't want anyone to feel left out, I guess.

kazinator 2y ago

If you don't list this location, perhaps it could be used for helping American buyers evade tariffs. The shipment just wouldn't mention Australia, and somehow slip through the cracks.

duxup 2y ago
Doesn’t that mean you have to list all the islands?
- yorwba 2y ago
  Only those that have their own ISO 3166-1 codes, so may be considered separate countries for trade purposes. (Heard and McDonald are HM. Compare also Hong Kong at HK.)

_lvbh 2y ago

"The president said there will be a "baseline" tariff of 10% on all imports" https://www.newsweek.com/trump-reciprocal-tariff-chart-2054514 https://www.newsweek.com/trump-reciprocal-tariff-chart-20545... The islands aren't actually on the list, just covered by the baseline afaik

duxup 2y ago
https://www.wired.com/story/trump-tariffs-antarctic-islands-heard-mcdonald/ https://www.wired.com/story/trump-tariffs-antarctic-islands-... > One of the sheets claims that the Heard and McDonald Islands currently charge a “Tariff to the U.S.A.” of 10 percent, clarifying in tiny letters that this includes "currency manipulation and trade barriers." In return, the sheet says that the US will charge "discounted reciprocal tariffs" on the islands at a rate of 10 percent. They seem to specify some odd islands.
mandevil 2y ago
https://x.com/JStein_WaPo/status/1907536257476903047 https://x.com/JStein_WaPo/status/1907536257476903047 first picture clearly shows "Heard and McDonald Island: Tariff charged to the USA including currency manipulation and trade barriers: 10% USA Discounted Reciprocal Tariffs: 10%" and the same for the next line below it, Svalbard and Jan Mayen. That same picture also shows the British Indian Ocean Territory, which as of a few weeks ago is literally just the US Military base at Diego Garcia. They also are listed as charging a 10% tariff including currency manipulation and trade barriers. They specifically called out all of these locations in the papers they handed out to journalists.
- rsynnott 2y ago
  I mean I'm assuming that these junk numbers were put together at the last minute by some intern when it was realised there was no plan. I seriously doubt anyone involved has ever heard of any of these places; they just made up some numbers and moved on.

defrost 2y ago

Australia's Christmas Island still harbours a Red Menace: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbpvWsBpr4E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbpvWsBpr4E