Stable Genius Trump Just Put Tariffs on a U.S. Military Base
Donald Trump announced a range of tariffs on nearly every country in the world—including, inexplicably, some practically uninhabited islands, one of which is home to a U.S. military base.
The British Indian Ocean Territory, a small cluster of islands in the South Indian Ocean, was hit with 10 percent tariffs on U.S. imports from the Trump administration Wednesday as part of its Liberation Day announcement.
The islands are mostly uninhabited, save for approximately 3,000 U.S. and U.K. military personnel who are stationed at a joint Navy Support Facility on the island Diego Garcia. Trump’s tariffs would mostly affect the service members there. Another roughly 1,200 people live on the country’s Chagos Archipelago.
As one might expect from the name, the territory is owned by the United Kingdom, which Trump hit with a 10 percent tariff, relatively low compared to other countries.
Trump also announced 10 percent tariffs on the Heard Island and McDonald Islands, an uninhabited Australian territory that was listed as a Unesco World Heritage site for its “complete absence of alien plants and animals, as well as human impact.” Australia was saddled with a 10 percent tariff, as well.
It’s unclear whether the tariffs on these territories would compound to 20 percent. Crucially, it’s unclear that anyone thought about this at all.
Online, some speculated that the tariffs were doled out according to internet domains, and that because the Heart Island and McDonald Islands use a different domain (.hm) than Australia, (.au) they were considered different countries. That seemed to be the only explanation for levying a tariff on a territory that has no economy to speak of.