In a move that sparked surprise and ridicule, it included the new customs duties announced by US President Donald Trump, the remote, uninhabited island of Australia in the southern Ocean, in which only the penguins and curtains live.
Isolated islands in the ocean: “Nothing there”
The island of “Hurd and McDonald” is more than 4000 km southwestern Australia, and it can only be accessed through a seven -day cruise. Human did not go for nearly a decade, as it is one of the most distant points from civilization. However, these islands have become part of the Trump list of new customs duties by 10%.
Professor Mike Kovin of the University of Tasmania, who conducted several research trips near the islands, told the BBC: “There is nothing. There is no trade or residents.” He added: “The last human visit was 2016 by radio enthusiasts, with the permission of the Australian government.”
Difficulty commercial data?
Although there is no clear trade between these islands and the United States, data from the World Bank showed that exports of $ 1.4 million issued from the islands to America in 2022, most of them under the classification of “electrical equipment”. But subsequent reports from the “The Guardian” newspaper indicated that these data may be wrong, and that the shipments were described wrongly from those islands.
Australian Australian reactions
The Australian Minister of Trade Don Farrell described the matter as a “clear mistake,” adding: “The poor penguins, I do not know what I did to Trump.” While Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanizi said: “This shows that there is no place in the world safe from these drawings,” saying that it is “completely unjustified and not a friend’s behavior.”
Features that affect other areas
The drawings were not limited to the Pengings, but also included other Australian lands such as the Cocos (Killing) Islands, the Christmas Island, and the island of Norfolk in which about 2,200 people live, which imposed 29%fees. Other lands belonging to allied countries, such as the Norwegian Svles and the British Falkland Islands, have also been targeted.
Protected nature is threatened?
The remote islands are one of UNESCO’s World Heritage sites, because it contains a rare ecosystem that has not been affected by human activity. It is believed that it houses hundreds of thousands of penguins and sea birds, in addition to the elephants. “What I thought is a beach, it turned out to be a long strip of penguins,” said Covein.
