Polar bear-inhabited islands affected by Trump tariffs

Los Angeles Times

03-04-2025

MELBOURNE — The Trump administration appears to be leaving no stone unturned with its sweeping tariffs around the globe, from rocky outcrops home to polar bears in the Arctic to tiny tropical islands to a former British penal colony whose leader is befuddled that it was targeted.
The American president rattled markets, manufacturers and more Wednesday when he announced a baseline of 10% tariffs on imports into the United States — and far higher on goods from some places, notably those with high trade surpluses with the United States.
A few countries, including Russia, which is facing U.S. sanctions, and Canada and Mexico — which face separate U.S. tariff measures — were left off. The Holy See got a pass too from being listed among the dozens of countries and territories targeted by President Trump.
Here's a look at some target territories that have little to no production, exports or role in the global economy. There was no immediate explanation as to why these places made the cut in a list presented on the White House-affiliated 'Rapid Response 47' account on the X social media platform.
This small Arctic island, possibly featuring more polar bears than people, figures among the more peculiar places on the U.S. target list.
The only inhabitants on Jan Mayen, part of Norway since 1930, are staff of the Norwegian military and the Norwegian Meteorological Institute. The island — 370 miles northeast of Iceland — is partly covered by glaciers.
The Norwegian military's main role there is to oversee Norway's claim to sovereignty over the island. It flies C-130 Hercules cargo planes to Jan Mayen about a dozen times a year from Norway.
The planes are able to land only if visibility is good as the airport doesn't have any instrument landing capabilities.
Norway's Foreign and Environment Ministries did not immediately reply to requests for comment Thursday from the Associated Press.
The nation made up of three tropical coral islands and home to 1,500 people on a combined land area of 4 square miles, is also facing 10% U.S. tariffs.
One of the smallest economies in the South Pacific, Tokelau survives on subsistence agriculture, fishing and finance from New Zealand, which counts the islands as one of its territories.
Roland Rajah, lead economist at the Lowy Institute, an Australian foreign policy think tank, said officials in small island nations would likely struggle to change Washington's mind.
'If those countries didn't get much consideration in terms of what tariffs were imposed on them given their size and obscurity to the Trump administration, that also could make it difficult for them to do anything about negotiating their way out of those tariffs,' he said.
The leader of Christmas Island, which has fewer that 2,000 people, said the Indian Ocean atoll exported nothing to the United States.
'There's no trade between Christmas Island and America except that we do buy mining equipment through Tractors Singapore,' said Christmas Island Shire President Gordon Thomson, referring to the regional dealer for the Texas manufacturing giant Caterpillar Inc.
The Australian outpost located 225 miles south of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, has used U.S. heavy machinery to mine phosphate for decades.
'The trade, if anything, is U.S. product into Christmas Island. The only thing that we export is phosphate and that goes to Malaysia, Indonesia, maybe Thailand and a bit to the Australian mainland,' Thomson said.
The Heard and McDonald Islands in the remote Antarctic, which together form another Australian territory — this one uninhabited — is also on the list and subject to 10% tariffs.
The mostly barren islands between Madagascar and Antarctica have two active volcanoes and can only be reached by sea.
Contacted by the AP, the Australian government's Antarctic Division did not immediately respond when asked about how the tariff might affect its operations on the islands.
Norfolk Island in the Pacific, another Australian territory with a population of around 2,000 people, received more severe tariff treatment.
The Trump administration, in its calculation, said the former British penal colony charges the United States 58% tariffs — and it responded with a tariff rate of 29% on Norfolk Island, whose economy revolves around tourism. It's about a thousand miles east of Sydney.
Norfolk Island Administrator George Plant, the Australian government's representative on the island, was looking into what was behind it.
'To my knowledge, we do not export anything to the United States,' he told the AP. 'We don't charge tariffs on anything. I can't think of any nontariff barriers that would be in place either, so we're scratching our heads here.'
Speaking to reporters, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese quipped: 'I'm not quite sure that Norfolk Island, with respect to it, is a trade competitor with the giant economy of the United States.'
'But that just shows, I think, exemplifies, the fact that nowhere on Earth is exempt from this.'
Mcguirk and Keaten write for the Associated Press. Keaten reported from Geneva. Charlotte Graham-McLay in Wellington, New Zealand, and Vanessa Gera in Warsaw contributed to this report.