This tiny island has been slugged with Trump's tariffs. Its residents don't know why

A tiny tranquil island home to an estimated 2,188 people. Closer to New Zealand than Australia. And now slugged with a 29 per cent tariff from the Trump administration.

Norfolk Island, despite forming an external Australian territory, was singled out by US President Donald Trump during his "liberation day" on Thursday, with a tariff hit 19 percentage points higher than the rest of Australia. Other small Australian territories bizarrely singled out included the uninhabited, penguin-laden Heard and McDonald Islands, Christmas Island and the Cocos Keeling Islands. George Plant is the island's administrator and told ABC Sydney that residents had been "scratching their heads" since the announcement.



"I think they're as confused as I am. I've had a few calls from the community and we really cannot understand it," he The island did export bananas and bean seeds in the 1930s, but Mr Plant said it relied mostly on tourism. "Our business is tourism, we don't really export anything to the US," he told "We're a non-self-governing territory under the authority of Australia, so we operate exactly as the rest of the country.

Mr Plant says Norfolk islanders have been left confused and bemused by the Trump tariffs. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese could barely hide his shock at the island's inclusion. "I'm not quite sure Norfolk Island, with respect to it, is a trade competitor with the giant economy of the US, but that just exemplifies that nowhere on earth is exempt from this," he told reporters on Thursday.

Trade Minister Don Farrell also viewed the islands' involvement as "clearly a mistake". "Poor old penguins, I don't know what they did to Trump, but, look, I think it's an indication, to be honest with you, that this was a rushed process," he told the ABC. Speculated errors in reporting Other islanders have pointed out that Norfolk Island does export palm seeds and this may affect part of the local economy.

Local resident Brett Sanderson says the tariffs will "certainly" affect some families on the island, though he notes that palm seeds are not a huge export. He said when he first heard of the tariffs, he originally had to double-check the date to make sure it wasn't an April Fool's prank. "I think the problem is [the US has] a president that doesn't understand how and why tariffs work," Mr Sanderson says Lawyer and resident John Brown says he understands the export market of palm seeds is mostly isolated to Europe.

There have also been claims, unable to be verified by the ABC, that the island has a large leather footwear market. Mr Brown believes, in both cases, this may be an error in the US's data recording. "When you look at things like shoes and leather and so on, they're simply not made here," he told ABC's Luke Radford.

"The only likely explanation for that is that there are returns of defective goods which might have come in the first place from the US. Tariffs highlight self-determination struggle While residents of Norfolk Island vote in the Australian election and are subject to Australian laws, it has not always been this way. The island's self-determination has been heavily contested over the years.

The island's push to regain its own government has been a big issue over the past years In 1979, the Norfolk Island Act was passed, giving the island limited autonomy. But by 2010, the island surrendered its self-governance in return for a Commonwealth bailout following the global financial crisis. In 2015, Canberra abolished the Legislative Assembly despite a non-binding referendum where 58 per cent of islanders voted to keep self-rule.

The assembly was replaced by a council — which was later also dismissed under the LNP government in 2021 due to major financial issues. Now, the island is part of the ACT federal electorate of Bean, while Queensland looks after services such as education and health. With no elected council or state member of parliament, and a federal MP 1,000 kilometres away, residents on this island say they are facing a democratic deficit.

Mr Sanderson, who is also a member of the Norfolk Island People for Democracy movement, sees it as a "colonial" model of government where the lives of residents are determined by public servants in Canberra. "There is a huge democratic deficit because of this broken model that was imposed," he said. And while Trump's blanket tariffs were "insanity", he hopes they do more to shed light on the island and its push to regain self-government.

"I hope it puts a spotlight on the Norfolk issue because it's very hard for Australians to understand," Mr Sanderson added. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has been contacted for comment..