Politics
Penguins and polar bears outnumber people in some tariff-hit territories – National TenX News
Some of the world’s least inhabited islands and territories have been hit by U.S. President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs on all foreign trading partners — and some appear to have more penguins and polar bears than trade agreements with the U.S.
Tiny tropical islands and remote outposts in the Antarctic and far North were included in the list of dozens of countries and territories that now face a baseline tariff of 10 per cent. Some of the outlier targets face far higher tariffs, based on calculated trade deficits with the U.S., leaving world leaders scratching their heads.
“Nowhere on Earth is exempt from this,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, whose country includes many of the territories caught up in Trump’s tariffs, told reporters Wednesday.
None of the territories listed below were included in the National Trade Estimate report on foreign trade barriers from U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer’s office, released Monday.
The Trump administration has pointed to the report’s findings to justify the new global tariff policy, which is also based on a national emergency on foreign trade that Trump declared in his executive order Wednesday.
“President Trump is taking urgent action to protect the national security and economy of the United States,” Greer said in a statement. “The current lack of trade reciprocity, demonstrated by our chronic trade deficit, has weakened our economic and national security.”
Here are just some of the targets of Trump’s trade war that are raising eyebrows:
Heard and McDonald Islands – 10% tariff
This Australian territory comprises two islands in the remote Antarctic that is uninhabited by people, other than temporary Australian scientific expeditions. A permanent research station on Heard Island was closed in 1954.
The islands are home to penguins and seals and are about a two-week sail from the Australian mainland.
Despite hardly any actual trade with the U.S. — government data shows no imports from the islands last year — the territory faces the 10 per cent baseline tariff.
The CIA World Factbook says economic activity on the islands effectively ended in 1877, when elephant seal oil trade ended after the local seal population was nearly killed off.
Three tropical coral islands in the South Pacific make up the New Zealand territory of Tokelau, home to 1,500 people.
It primarily survives on subsistence agriculture, meaning hardly any crops are exported, as well as fishing.
Trade in goods with the U.S. amounted to roughly US$500,000 last year, according to U.S. government data. “Economic opportunities in Tokelau are sparse,” the CIA World Factbook says.
Global trade data compiled by the Observatory of Economic Complexity shows the U.S. is near the bottom of the territory’s export and import markets.
Christmas Island – 10% tariff
The Australian outpost in the Indian Ocean — located 360 kilometres south of the Indonesian capital Jakarta, with a population of fewer than 2,000 people — has used U.S. heavy machinery to mine phosphate for decades.
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“There’s no trade between Christmas Island and America, except that we do buy mining equipment through Tractors Singapore,” said Christmas Island Shire President Gordon Thomson, referring to the regional dealer for the Texas manufacturing giant Caterpillar Inc.
“The trade, if anything, is U.S. product into Christmas Island. The only thing that we export is phosphate and that goes to Malaysia, Indonesia, maybe Thailand and a bit to the Australian mainland,” Thomson said.
In 2023, the U.S. exported US$49 million in American goods to Christmas Island, while importing just US$4.4 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau — an outlier year in a trade relationship that is otherwise relatively small.
Svalbard and Jan Mayen – 10% tariff
The Trump administration lumped together Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago home to about 2,500 people, and Jan Mayen, a volcanic island 1,100 kilometres away, in its tariff list and imposed a 10 per cent levy on the combined territory.
Jan Mayen is completely uninhabited, other than a combined Norwegian military and meteorological research outpost and a local population of polar bears, and is partially covered by glaciers.
The Norwegian military’s main role there is to oversee Norway’s claim to sovereignty over the island.
U.S. Census data shows the U.S. has actually had a longstanding trade surplus with Svalbard and Jan Mayen for years, exporting far more than it imports.
The most the U.S. has imported from the territory in the past five years is around US$100,000.
British Indian Ocean Territory – 10% tariff
This overseas British territory comprises over 1,000 individual islands in the Chagos Archipelago between Indonesia and Tanzania, with a combined area of just 60 square kilometres.
The largest island, Diego Garcia, is home to a joint U.K.-U.S. military base and 4,000 British and American troops, but the territory has zero permanent residents.
U.S. government data shows millions of dollars of American goods are exported to the territory every year — likely military equipment — with far less goods imported in return.
Cocos (Keeling) Islands – 10% tariff
Another Australian territory in the Indian Ocean, this one is made up of two atolls with a combined total of 27 coral islands, with less than 600 people calling it home.
It primarily relies on tourism, and most food and other necessities are imported from Australia, yet the U.S. is a top export market for shipbuilding.
Two-way trade in goods amounts to roughly US$3 million a year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Falkland Islands – 41% tariff
Long disputed between the United Kingdom and Argentina — including a military conflict in the 1980s — the Falkland Islands is home to roughly 3,600 people in the southern Atlantic Ocean.
It relies mostly on fishing, agriculture and tourism for its economy, and wool from its sheep farming sector is a top export.
The Trump administration claims the territory’s tariffs, trade barriers and “currency manipulation” amounts to an 82 per cent tax on U.S. imports, leading it to impose a 41 per cent tariff in return.
The U.S. has reported a trade goods deficit with the Falkland Islands for years.
Last year it imported US$18.7 million more in goods than it exported, down from a US$31.2 million deficit two years prior.
Norfolk Island – 29% tariff
This Pacific island, another Australian territory with a population of around 2,000 people, also received more severe tariff treatment with a 29 per cent levy.
That’s based on what the Trump administration claims is a total 58 per cent extra charge on U.S. goods.
The island’s economy primarily revolves around tourism, and most of its minimal agricultural exports are to Europe. Albanese told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation the separate, higher tariff for an Australian territory “was somewhat unexpected and a bit strange.”
“To my knowledge, we do not export anything to the United States,” Norfolk Island Administrator George Plant, the Australian government’s representative on the island, told the AP.
“We don’t charge tariffs on anything. I can’t think of any non-tariff barriers that would be in place either, so we’re scratching our heads here.”
Norfolk Island business owners who spoke with Reuters could think of no manufacturing industry on the island.
According to U.S. government data, two-way trade with Norfolk Island amounted to less than $US1.5 million over the past three years combined.
Saint Pierre and Miquelon – 50% tariff
According to the Trump administration, this French overseas territory right next to Newfoundland and Labrador with a population around 5,000 people tariffs U.S. goods at a 99 per cent rate — justifying a 50 per cent tariff, one of the highest rates on the entire list released Wednesday.
The archipelago of eight small islands relies on fishing exports and tourism for its economy.
Besides a US$3.4 million import of goods from the territory in July 2024, trade with the U.S. is minimal, U.S. government data shows.
—With files from the Associated Press and Reuters
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said she presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday even as he has questioned her credibility to take over her country after the U.S. ousted then-President Nicolás Maduro.
The Nobel Institute has said Machado could not give her prize to Trump, an honour that he has coveted. Even if the gesture proves to be purely symbolic, it was extraordinary given that Trump has effectively sidelined Machado, who has long been the face of resistance in Venezuela. He has signalled his willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who had been Maduro’s second in command.
“I presented the president of the United States the medal, the Nobel Peace Prize,” Machado told reporters after leaving the White House and heading to Capitol Hill. She said she had done so “as a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom.”
Trump confirmed later on social media that Machado had left the medal for him to keep, and he said it was an honour to meet her.
“She is a wonderful woman who has been through so much. María presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done,” Trump said in his post. “Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect. Thank you María!”
The White House later posted a photo of Machado standing next to Trump in the Oval Office as he holds the medal in a large frame. A text in the frame reads, “Presented as a personal symbol of gratitude on behalf of the Venezuelan people in recognition of President Trump’s principled and decisive action to secure a free Venezuela.”
Trump has raised doubts about his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in Venezuela, giving no timetable on when elections might be held. Machado indicated that he had provided few specifics on that front during their discussion.
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She did not provide more information on what was said.
‘We can count on President Trump’
After the closed-door meeting, Machado greeted dozens of cheering supporters waiting for her near the White House gates, stopping to hug many.
“We can count on President Trump,” she told them without elaborating, prompting some to briefly chant, “Thank you, Trump.”
Before her visit to Washington, Machado had not been seen in public since she travelled last month to Norway, where her daughter received the peace prize on her behalf. She had spent 11 months in hiding in Venezuela before she appeared in Norway after the ceremony.
The jubilant scene after her meeting with Trump stood in contrast to political realities in Venezuela. Rodríguez remains in charge of day-to-day government operations, along with others in Maduro’s inner circle. In her first state of the union speech Thursday, the interim president promoted the resumption of diplomatic ties between the historic adversaries and advocated for opening the state-run oil industry to more foreign investment after Trump pledged to seize control of Venezuelan crude sales.
Trump has said it would be difficult for Machado to lead because she “doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.” Her party is widely believed to have won 2024 elections rejected by Maduro.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called Machado “a remarkable and brave voice” but also said the meeting didn’t mean Trump’s opinion of her changed, calling it “a realistic assessment.”
Leavitt told reporters that Trump supported new Venezuelan elections “when the time is right” but did not say when he thought that might be.
A ‘frank and positive discussion’ about Venezuela
Leavitt said Machado had sought the face-to-face meeting without setting expectations for what would occur. She spent about two and a half hours at the White House.
“I don’t think he needs to hear anything from Ms. Machado,” the press secretary said while the meeting was still going on, other than to have a ”frank and positive discussion about what’s taking place in Venezuela.”
After leaving the White House, Machado went on to a closed-door meeting with a bipartisan group of senators.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said Machado told them that “if there’s not some progress, real progress towards a transition in power, and/or elections in the next several months, we should all be worried.”
“She reminded us that Delcy Rodríguez is, in many ways, worse than Maduro,” he added.
Asked if Machado had heard any commitment from the White House on holding elections in Venezuela, Murphy said, “No, I don’t think she got any commitment from them.”
Sen. Bernie Moreno, an Ohio Republican, was exultant following the meeting, saying Machado “delivered a message that loud and clear: What President Trump did was the most important, significant event in Latin America. That getting rid of Maduro was absolutely essential.”
Machado’s Washington stop coincided with U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea seizing another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says had ties to Venezuela. It is part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil after U.S. forces captured Maduro and his wife less than two weeks ago at a heavily guarded compound in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges.
Leavitt said Venezuela’s interim authorities have been fully cooperating with the Trump administration and noted that Rodríguez’s government said it planned to release more prisoners detained under Maduro. Among those released were five Americans this week.
Trump said Wednesday that he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was ousted.
Machado doesn’t get the nod from Trump
Just hours after Maduro’s capture, Trump said of Machado that “it would be very tough for her to be the leader.” Machado had steered a careful course to avoid offending Trump, notably after winning the peace prize, and had sought to cultivate relationships with him and key administration voices like Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The industrial engineer and daughter of a steel magnate, Machado began challenging the ruling party in 2004, when the nongovernmental organization she co-founded, Súmate, promoted a referendum to recall then-President Hugo Chávez. The initiative failed, and Machado and other Súmate executives were charged with conspiracy.
A year later, she drew the anger of Chávez and his allies again for travelling to Washington to meet President George W. Bush, whom Chávez considered an adversary.
Almost two decades later, she marshalled millions of Venezuelans to reject Chávez’s successor, Maduro, for another term in the 2024 election. But ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared him the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary. Ensuing anti-government protests ended in a brutal crackdown.
Politics
IMF chief backs Jerome Powell, U.S. Fed independence amid Trump pressure – National TenX News
International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva on Thursday underscored the importance of keeping central banks independent and threw her support behind beleaguered Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who is facing a Trump administration investigation for renovation cost overruns.
Georgieva told Reuters in an interview that there was ample evidence that central bank independence worked in the interest of businesses and households, and that evidence-based, data-based decision-making is good for the economy.
The IMF managing director said she had worked with Powell and respected his professionalism.
“I have worked with Jay Powell. He is a very good professional, very decent man, and I think that his standing among his colleagues tells the story,” she said, when asked about a letter of support signed by her predecessor, Christine Lagarde, now head of the European Central Bank, and other large central banks.
Powell on Sunday disclosed that the Trump administration had opened an investigation into him over cost overruns for a $2.5 billion project to renovate two historical buildings at the Fed’s Washington headquarters complex.
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Powell denies wrongdoing and has called the unprecedented actions a pretext to put pressure on him for not bowing to U.S. President Donald Trump’s long-running demands for sharply lower interest rates.
The probe has sparked widespread criticism from some key members of Trump’s Republican Party in the U.S. Senate, which must confirm his nominee to succeed Powell, along with foreign economic officials, investors and former U.S. government officials from both political parties.
Trump has repeatedly derided Powell’s leadership of the Fed and attacked him, often personally, over what he sees as the Fed chair’s slow moves to cut interest rates. On Wednesday, he dismissed concerns that eroding central bank independence would undermine the value of the U.S. dollar and spark inflation, telling Reuters, “I don’t care.”
Georgieva said the IMF looked carefully at issues such as monetary and financial stability, as well as the strength of a country’s institutions. It was specifically interested in the Fed, given the role of the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency.
“It would be very good to see that there is a recognition … that the Fed is precious for the Americans. It is very important for the rest of the world,” she said.
Trump has also attempted to fire another Fed official, Governor Lisa Cook, who has challenged her termination in a legal case that will be argued before the Supreme Court next week.
B.C. Premier David Eby spoke to reporters on Thursday morning from Mumbai, India, during his six-day trade mission.
He said that mining and energy companies in India are showing an interest in B.C.
“They are looking strongly to LNG as one of their ways of reducing carbon intensity, as well as reducing smog in the country,” Eby said.
“And so B.C. LNG has been an item of considerable interest, especially the projects that are reaching final investment decision over the next year — LNG Canada Phase 2, KSI Lisims LNG — as well as the projects that are under construction like Woodfibre LNG.”
Eby was also asked about the rise in extortion cases in B.C.
He said the province’s extortion task force will provide an update next week.
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“We have assembled a remarkable and historic task force, RCMP, CBSA,” Eby said.
“There are more police in Surrey right now than there have ever been. The RCMP has surged resources into the community.”
Eby said he has not been happy with the fact that there has been no update from the task force and he has asked them to provide one.
“There have been some important developments, people deported, an arrest here in India, cooperation between the Indian government and the Canadian government on this at the law enforcement level,” he added.
“That needs to continue, but, bluntly, we need better results, we need to see more arrests and whatever we can do to support the police to get the job done, we will do so.”
As of Jan. 12, Surrey police said there have been 16 reported extortion incidents in the city since the beginning of the year.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Trump gifted Nobel Peace Prize by Venezuela’s María Corina Machado – National TenX News
IMF chief backs Jerome Powell, U.S. Fed independence amid Trump pressure – National TenX News
B.C. Premier David Eby says province’s LNG, mining of interest to India TenX News
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