© Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle/USA TODAY NETWORK
Even most apolitical of United States citizens couldn’t help but pay attention as Donald Trump placed massive tariffs on the rest of the world this past week. The tariffs, which Trump says are meant to bring industry back to the U.S., blew up the world’s economy and caused an immediate spike in prices for American consumers.
But they didn’t just apply to countries that are major trade partners of the United States. Trump’s tariffs included any and every country and territory on the planet, including the little known Heard and McDonald Islands.
Remote Islands With No Humans And Thousands Of Penguins Fall Victim To Tariffs
The Heard and McDonald’s are a little-known territory off the coast of Australia and just north of Antarctica. They occupy just 142 square miles and have a total population of zero. That’s right. There are no human beings living on the Heard and McDonald Island.
There are, however, many, many penguins. Recent studies report that there are thousands of penguins on the island. But those penguins do not participate in trade with the United States. At least, not as far as we know. So, how did they end up with a tariff against them?
Somehow, the United States reports a trade deficit with the islands. What exactly could the U.S. be purchasing from a place full of only wildlife? Theories suggest that the trade deficit comes down to matters of either fishing or scientific research. But even the fishing companies wouldn’t be registered to the islands.
So yes, it appears that the United States and Donald Trump did, in fact, just place a tariff on penguins. And given the fact that he’s stated that the tariffs will remain in place until the trade deficit hits zero (which an entirely separate discussion), it appears the U.S. will have tariffs against the Heard and McDonald Island for a long time to come. At least, until penguins begin to learn how to import goods.