"No place on Earth is safe," Trump even taxes deserted islands where only penguins live

A group of barren, uninhabited volcanic islands near Antarctica, covered in glaciers and known as home to penguins, have been embroiled in Donald Trump's trade war after the US president hit them with a 10% tariff on goods.

Heard Island and the McDonald Islands, which form an external territory of Australia, are among the most remote places on Earth, accessible only by a two-week boat trip from Perth on Australia's west coast. They are completely uninhabited, and the last person was there 10 years ago.

However, Heard and McDonald Islands appeared on a list released by the White House of "countries" that would face new trade tariffs.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday that "no place on Earth is safe."

Heard Island and McDonald Islands are among several "external territories" of Australia listed separately on Australia's tariff schedule, which will see a 10% tariff imposed on its goods.

The external territories are part of Australia and not self-governing, but have a unique relationship with the federal government. Such territories featured on the White House list were Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Christmas Island and Norfolk Island.

Norfolk Island, which has a population of 2,188 and lies 1,600km (1,000 miles) north-east of Sydney, was hit with a rate of 29% - 19 percentage points higher than the rest of Australia.

In 2023, Norfolk Island exported $655,000 worth of goods to the US, with the main export being leather footwear worth $413,000 (US$658,000), according to data from the Economic Complexity Observatory.

But George Plant, the administrator of Norfolk Island, disputed the data. He said that "there are no known exports from Norfolk Island to the United States and there are no known tariffs or non-tariff trade barriers on goods coming to Norfolk Island."

Albanese said Thursday that "Norfolk Island has a 29% tariff. I'm not entirely sure that Norfolk Island, in that regard, is a trade competitor with the giant economy of the United States, but it just goes to show and illustrate the fact that no place on Earth is safe."