19 hours Ago By 9News
Tweet Facebook Mail A tiny Australian territory has been handed a US tariff nearly triple what the rest of the country has received . As the rest of Australia was dealt a 10 per cent tariff from Donald Trump this morning, Norfolk Island received 29 per cent. The White House offered no explanation for the disparity.
LIVE UPDATES: Trump reveals tariff rate on Australia Norfolk Island has a population of about 2000 people. (Adobe Stock) When asked about it today, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was baffled. "I'm not quite sure that Norfolk Island, with respect to it, is a trade competitor with the giant economy of the United States," he said.
"But that just shows and exemplifies the fact that nowhere on Earth is exempt from this. "I'm not sure what Norfolk Island's major exports are to the US or why it has been singled out, but it has." Norfolk Island is about 1400km east of the Australian mainland and has a population of about 2000 people.
The White House also specified that 10 per cent tariffs would be placed on Heard and McDonald Islands, another Australian territory. But both islands close to the Antarctic are uninhabited. READ MORE: Why Australia won't import American beef President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House (AP) Christmas Island, another Australian territory, has also been named in the list, with the same 10 per cent tariff as the rest of the country.
According to the Associated Press, Trump's new tariffs won't affect those already in place. As far as Australia's concerned, that means steel and aluminium tariffs will remain as is, without alteration. Tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico also remain unchanged.
Trump announced earlier his global tariffs would come into effect "from midnight". Assuming that's midnight in Washington DC, that would be 3pm AEDT, 2pm AEST, 2.30pm in South Australia, 1.
30pm in the Northern Territory, and noon in Perth. In Norfolk Island, the tariffs will kick in at 4pm. READ MORE: Australian Federal Election 2025: How to vote and everything we know explained President Donald Trump departs after signing an executive order at an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden of the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington.
(AP) Not a lot of time for importers or exporters to prepare - although this has been flagged for some time now. Trade Minister Don Farrell says Australia will continue to sell into the US. "When China imposed a 220 per cent tariff on Australian wine, that killed wine exports the next day, stone dead," he said.
"That's not what has happened here. Australian wine will now apparently go into the United States at a 10 per cent tariff. We'll still continue to sell wine into the United States.
" He also flagged the possibility of a new free trade agreement with the European Union, negotiations toward which had previously fallen over. "The world has changed as of today. The world has changed for Europe," he said.
"Europe is now subject to a much higher tariff into the United States. "If they're sensible, they make us a better offer on the issues that made the agreement fall over last time, and we'll get a free trade agreement with the EU." Norfolk Island is about 1400km off the coast of mainland Australia.
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