Trump's tariffs on penguins and pine trees feel like a late April Fools joke
Norfolk Island jail with local pines – Photo courtesy Steve Daggar, via Wikimedia CC BY 3.0
US President Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs seem like a late April Fools’ joke for people down under. Norfolk Island, an Australian external territory, has been hit with a 29 percent tariff, even though the tiny island, with a population of approximately 2,000 people, has no exports to the USA.
This Reuters YouTube video has a quick summary:
What it does have is a lot of Norfolk pine trees.
Pine trees on Norfolk Island. Image via Flickr. CC BY-ND 2.0
These are a major part of the picturesque scenery that makes it a key tourist destination. In fact tourism is its main industry.
It is also known for its lack of crime, boasting just one murder in the last 150 years in 2002. It had been a British penal settlement until 1855.
Seems it was a terrible case of mistaken identity, if posts on BlueSky are accurate:
We've solved the mystery on why all those remote and uninhabited islands were targeted for tariffs by Trump – they show up in US trade data due to mislabelled shipments. eg mixing up Norfolk, Virginia or Norfolk UK with Norfolk Island!
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne…
— Nick Evershed!? (@nickevershed.bsky.social) April 4, 2025 at 2:15 PM
The Heard and McDonald islands, an external Australian territory which is uninhabited except for penguins and other wildlife and can only be reached through a two-week sea voyage, faced a similar fate and was slapped with a 10 percent tariff.
Donald Trump just put a 10 percent tariff on the Heard Island and McDonald, which has a population of zero people and is inhabited only by penguins.
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts.bsky.social) April 3, 2025 at 9:46 AM
LostNotDamned took a light-hearted approach to the news on a popular Reddit post, referencing Trump's Diversity, equity, and inclusion phobia:
Let's just hope they're hard working and not some woke DEI penguins!!
Perhaps the President had read Global Voices’ story from 2023: “Gay penguin parenthood stories ruffle some conservative feathers.”
There was a lot of social media interest on Mastodon as users rushed to mock the mix-up. Just a couple of examples:
While Trump's tariffs caused chaos to the US and global economy, penguins were going wild on TikTok. Chelsea Gabrielle posted a crowd-pleaser:
@chelseagabriella0 Damn no one is safe from the tariffs put on them #penguins #tariffs #heardisland #comedy#trending #penguin #foryoupage
With Russia not on the tariffs list, even Rolling Stone couldn't resist the headline: “Trump Launches Trade War With Penguins, Not Putin”:
Trump is placing tariffs on countries around the globe — including even remote Antarctic islands inhabited only by penguins — while exempting the Russian regime of Vladimir Putin.
Even Chuck Schumer, US Senate Democratic leader, got in on the act on Threads:
Donald Trump slapped tariffs on penguins and not on Putin.
Anyway, despite the jabs, Trump's tariffs are no joke:
The fact this isn't an April Fools spoof is just wild. He tariffed penguins.
— StrawberryVotes (@verymerryberry.bsky.social) April 4, 2025 at 9:42 AM
