Tariffs on penguins? Trump’s announcement hits Antarctic islands

President Donald Trump’s administration will likely usher in a new era of global trade relations following the announcement of reciprocal tariffs on Wednesday.

However, one unexpected outcome of new tariffs implemented by the administration is that it could affect trade relations with… penguins?

“No, this is not a joke,” CNN’s Dana Bash commented in a segment regarding the tariffs on an island inhabited by penguins.

Heard Island and McDonald Island, uninhabited islands near Antarctica that are an external territory of Australia, will receive universal 10% tariffs.

The islands are not inhabited by humans but they are home to penguins, seals and glaciers.

“Donald Trump is using tariffs in the dumbest way imaginable. Donald Trump slapped tariffs on penguins and not on Putin,” the minority leader Sen. Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor Thursday.

The islands are managed by the Australian Antarctic Division and according to a governmental website, “the islands are unoccupied by humans and remain one of the world’s least anthropogenically disturbed areas.”

Yet, the islands are still targets of the Trump administration’s worldwide tariffs which go up to 50% for certain countries.

“Nowhere on Earth is safe,” Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese said Thursday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.