'We are scratching our heads': Trump imposes 29% tariff on tiny, remote Australian island with barely any exports
Norfolk Island has a population of over 2,000 people and lies 1,600km (1,000 miles) north-east of Sydney and its economy revolves around tourism. The 29% tariff is 19 percentage points higher than the rest of Australia.
In 2023, Norfolk Island exported US$655,000 (A$1.04m) worth of goods to the US, with its main export being US$413,000 (A$658,000) worth of leather footwear, according to Observatory of Economic Complexity data.
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'We are scratching our heads'
According to US government data, the U.S. has recorded trade deficits with Norfolk Island for the past three years, reports news agency Reuters. “To my knowledge, we do not export anything to the United States,” Norfolk Island Administrator George Plant, the Australian government’s representative on the island, told the AP on Thursday. “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.”
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«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,» Australian Prime Minister Antony Albanese told media.
Richard Cottle, owner of a concrete-mixing business on Norfolk Island, told Reuters there was only one explanation when Trump unveiled a hefty 29% tariff on the tiny territory about 600 miles off eastern Australia: «it was just a mistake».
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