The Imperial Presidency

[robkelk]

'Tariff the seagulls?' These are the remote islands on Trump's tariff list, and what they export

British Indian Ocean Territory:

According to the CIA Factbook, all economic activity is concentrated on Diego Garcia, where "construction projects and various services needed to support the military installation are performed by military and contract employees from the UK, Mauritius, the Philippines, and the US."

So, yeah: His Orangeness is taxing the USA military. I trust that the tariffs are being subtracted from the 2%-of-GDP funding needed by treaty.


Heard and McDonald Islands:

The CIA Factbook doesn't list any economic activity for Heard and McDonald Islands, saying they are "populated by a large number of bird species, seals, and penguins," and that "the islands are primarily used for research, with limited fishing permitted in the surrounding waters."

So, exactly what do penguins export to the USA, anyway?


Norfolk Island:

Norfolk Island Administrator George Plant, the Australian government's representative there, was looking into it.

"To my knowledge, we do not export anything to the United States," he told The Associated Press. "We don't charge tariffs on anything. I can't think of any non-tariff barriers that would be in place either, so we're scratching our heads here."

So, exactly what do tourists export to the USA, anyway?


Tokelau:

According to the Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce website, Tokelau has one of the smallest economies in the world, and its main sources of revenue are sales of copra (dried coconut products), postage stamps, souvenir coins, handicrafts and remittances from relatives in New Zealand.

Gotta protect the United States Mint from coin collectors.


Cocos (Keeling) Islands:

For a small set of islands, its U.S. imports were on the larger side at about $1.1 million US, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The largest category was "goods returned,"

All international sales by the USA are final, apparently. If you want to return something, the company that sold it to you has to pay a tariff.