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What Fresh Hell Is This?
The Tariff Insanity Is Intentional
It’s economic brutalism. And it’s all part of the plan.
Trump imposed tariffs on the sub-Antarctic islands of Heard and McDonald. There are no human inhabitants. They have zero trade with America. One of the tiny frozen islands is home only to penguins.
Norfolk Island is a remote outpost territory of Australia. The nation of Australia received a 10% tariff. Tiny Norfolk Island, with only 2188 residents, was slapped with a 29% tariff. It imposes no tariffs and there are no known non-tariff trade barriers on goods imported to the island. “Products from Norfolk Island are going to have a 29% tariff? Well, there is no product, so it’s not going to have an effect,” said Gye Duncan, a tax consultant on the island. [Reuters]
Cocos (Keeling) Islands is an archipelago of 27 islands that is home to 600 mostly Sunni Muslim inhabitants.
Christmas Island is home to around 1600 people. The island’s leader reports the atoll exported nothing to the US. Their primary trade is the influx of US products. They export nothing to us, but we export mining equipment from Caterpillar Inc., of Texas, to them. Yes, that is a trade deficit — but it’s a deficit by America, not against America.
