‘We’re going to tariff seagulls’: Trump mocked as uninhabited islands feature on his Liberation Day list

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump declared "reciprocal tariffs" on other nations as part of his "Liberation Day" announcement. However, what baffled people was that his tariff list included two remote islands near Antarctica.

The White House published a list of approximately 90 nations on which the US imposed the tariffs, in addition to a universal 10% tax on all imports, CBS News reported. The 78-year-old Commander-in-Chief said at the time of announcement, "Reciprocal. That means they do it to us, and we do it to them."

Donald Trump's list of tariffs includes uninhabited islands

Trump's claim that the nations on the list were ripping off the United States was soon disputed, as it featured Heard Island and McDonald Islands, which form an external territory of Australia near Antarctica and are famously uninhabited. These islands have been hit with a 10% tariff on all products that are imported from the mostly barren, volcanic territory. 

According to HuffPost, they are uninhabited by humans, take days to travel to (only by boat) from Australia, are home to penguins and seals, and have a fishery.

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow caught on to that as she mentioned on her show how "The UNINHABITED and Arctic volcanoes of Heard and McDonald Islands were just slapped by Donald Trump today with a steep 10% #tariff."

“I will say those volcanoes and the penguins and seals who live there, they will never menace the American economy again, as they have in the past, by flooding us with their cheap exports of what? Like, fresh air, cool breezes, a waft of eau de penguin, I don’t know. What do they send us?” Maddow asked.

The British Indian Ocean Territory also faces reciprocal tariffs, even though the only settlement in the area is a Joint Military Facility of the United States and the United Kingdom.

'Nowhere on earth is safe' from Donald Trump's tariffs, says Aussie PM Anthony Albanese 

Several external territories of Australia made their way on the reciprocal tariff list, including the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Christmas Island, and Norfolk Island, The Guardian reported.

Among them, Norfolk Island, with its population of 2,188 people, faces a tariff of 29%, which is 19% higher than the rest of Australia. The Observatory of Economic Complexity stated that Norfolk Island exported $655,000 worth of goods to the US in 2023, with its main export being $413,000 worth of leather footwear.

However, the data has been disputed by Norfolk Island's administrator George Plant, who stated, "There are no known exports from Norfolk Island to the United States and no tariffs or known non-tariff trade barriers on goods coming to Norfolk Island.” 

"Nowhere on earth is safe," Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said while reacting to Trump's tariffs announcement on Thursday, April 3.

"Norfolk Island has got a 29% tariff. 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 and exemplifies the fact that nowhere on earth is safe from this,” he added.

Donald Trump trolled for announcing tariffs on uninhabited islands near Antarctica

President Donald Trump and his administration were brutally trolled across social media platforms over including uninhabited islands in their reciprocal tariffs list.

“Can someone please tell Donald Trump that the only people in the British Indian Ocean Territory are the US base at Diego Garcia?” posted British Conservative politician Oliver Cooper on X. “He’s taxing an American military base,” he added.

American Immigration Council senior fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick stated, “The Heard and McDonald Islands are completely uninhabited. Population zero. I guess we’re going to tariff the seagulls? It kind of feels like a White House intern went through Wikipedia’s list of countries and just generated this list off of that with no further research.”

Former representative Tom Malinowski's tweet dripped with sarcasm as he wrote, “The Heard Island and McDonald penguins have been taking advantage of us for too long - it’s about time we stood up to them!” 

"Higher tariffs on bird feathers I guess," responded a user in jest.

"I'm gonna start a business that routes Norwegian goods through Svalbard and Jan Mayen in order to get a five percent discount. Who's in? We're gonna see so many polar bears!" joked another social media user.

"The seagulls are charging us per the chart," one individual wrote sarcastically.

"The circus tent is up and running!" another remarked.

"Better safe than sorry. If the seagulls want to do business then they need to follow the rules," one individual added.

"These guys are the living and breathing Hanna-Barbera cartoon villains we used to watch Sat mornings," noted someone else.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online