Trump Tariffs Hit Antarctic Islands Inhabited by Zero Humans and Many Penguins | EUROtoday

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump introduced the US was imposing reciprocal tariffs on a small assortment of Antarctic islands that aren’t inhabited by people, as a part of a world commerce conflict aimed toward asserting US dominance. The Heard and McDonald Islands, recognized for his or her populations of penguins and seabirds, can solely be reached by sea.

Trump introduced the nations now topic to tariffs in a Wednesday press convention, utilizing a poster as a prop. Additional nations—together with the Heard and McDonald Islands, that are, by the way, not nations—had been listed on sheets of paper distributed to reporters.

One of the sheets claims that the Heard and McDonald Islands at present cost a “Tariff to the U.S.A.” of 10 p.c, clarifying in tiny letters that this contains “currency manipulation and trade barriers.” In return, the sheet says that the US will cost “discounted reciprocal tariffs” on the islands at a price of 10 p.c.

The islands are small. Their reported 37,000 hectares of land makes them a bit bigger than Philadelphia. According to UNESCO, which designated the islands as a World Heritage Site in 1997, they’re coated in rocks and glaciers. Heard Island is the positioning of an lively volcano, and McDonald Island is surrounded by a number of smaller rocky islands. The islands are house to massive populations of penguins and elephant seals.

The Australian Antarctic Division manages the islands, preserving the atmosphere and conducting analysis on the big wildlife inhabitants, in addition to local weather change’s influence on Heard and McDonald’s everlasting glaciers. On Wednesday, Australia and a variety of its island territories, together with Christmas and Cocos Keeling Islands, had been additionally hit with tariffs of 10 p.c. Norfolk Island, which Australia additionally claims, acquired a tariff of 29 p.c.

The White House didn’t instantly reply to WIRED’s request for remark. When reached for remark, the Australian Antarctic Division referred WIRED to the nation’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which didn’t reply previous to publication.

“One could argue this is in breach of the international Antarctic spirit,” Elizabeth Buchanan, a polar geopolitics professional and senior fellow on the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, tells WIRED.

Under the Antarctic Treaty, which promotes worldwide scientific cooperation and stipulates that the continent ought to be used for peaceable functions, land in Antarctica can’t be owned by any nation. However, Australia has claimed since 1953 that the islands are Australian territories. Australia additionally laid declare to the water surrounding the islands by way of a 2002 act that established a marine reserve. Last yr, the nation handed a legislation extending the boundaries of that reserve, roughly quadrupling its dimension.

The Australian Defense Force displays the waters surrounding the Heard and McDonald Islands as part of Operation Resolute, which covers the realm 200 nautical miles from Australia’s mainland and “approximately 10 percent of the world’s surface.” In addition to Heard and McDonald Islands, it additionally applies to the water surrounding the Christmas, Cocos Keeling, Macquarie, and Norfolk and Lord Howe islands. The Australian Defense Force claims that the aim of Operation Resolute is to deal with “security threats” like piracy and air pollution.

The Australian Antarctic Division claims that the realm sometimes receives ships concerned in scientific analysis, business fishing, and tourism.