Donald Trump has hit the UK with tariffs of 10% on exports to the US as he ignited a global trade war that could wipe billions off economic growth.
The US president accused other nations, including allies, of “looting, pillaging, raping and plundering” the US, as he announced tariffs on economic rivals including 20% on the EU and 34% on China as part of what he dubbed “liberation day”.
“This is Liberation Day,” he told a cheering audience of supporters, while hitting out at foreign “cheaters”.
Weird reason
Heard Island and McDonald Islands, the territory of Australia, are among the remotest places on earth.
They are accessible only via a two-week boat voyage from Perth on Australia’s west coast. They are completely uninhabited, with the last visit from people believed to be nearly 10 years ago.
However, Heard and McDonald islands featured in a list released by the White House of “countries” that would have new trade tariffs imposed.
The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said on Thursday: “Nowhere on earth is safe.”
Norfolk Island, which has a population of 2,188 people and lies 1,600km (1,000 miles) north-east of Sydney, was slugged with a tariff of 29% – 19 percentage points higher than the rest of Australia.
George Plant, the administrator of Norfolk Island said: “There are no known exports from Norfolk Island to the United States and no tariffs or known non-tariff trade barriers on goods coming to Norfolk Island.”
Albanese said on Thursday: “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.”
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