US Justifies Tariffs on Remote Islands Home to Penguins and Seals

Richard Arculus Five king penguins glide through the vibrant blue waters in a close-up shot. Richard Arculus 
The US Commerce Secretary has justified the decision to impose tariffs on the Heard and McDonald Islands, stating that the action aims to eliminate "ridiculous loopholes."

These tariffs are intended to prevent other nations from using these uninhabited islands, which are solely inhabited by penguins and seals, as transit points to access the US market, Howard Lutnick explained in an interview with CBS, a partner of the BBC.

Australian authorities expressed surprise last week upon learning of the tariffs affecting the islands, located approximately 4,000 kilometers (2,485 miles) from Australia.

Trade Minister Don Farrell remarked to ABC that the decision to impose tariffs was "clearly a mistake," suggesting that the process was conducted in haste.

When questioned about the inclusion of this Australian territory in Trump's tariff list, Lutnick responded, "If you exclude anything from the list, countries looking to exploit the system will route their shipments through those nations to reach us."

"The President is aware of this issue, is frustrated by it, and intends to address it."

Lutnick's remarks were part of a series of interviews by US officials aimed at defending the president's new tariffs, following a significant decline of over 5% in all three major US stock indexes on Friday, marking the worst week for the US stock market since 2020.
BBC