FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
No one expected the penguins to carry the burden of "Liberation Day."
But amid the barrage of tariffs imposed by Donald Trump, the US also targeted uninhabited islands, talked about American beef and turned up its nose at plastic eggs.
Small territories hit with big tariffs
At first glance, the new tariffs imposed on countries like China, the European Union, India, and the United Kingdom – ranging from 34% to 10% respectively – stand out.
But the president also imposed tariffs on dozens of small territories - some of which don't even have human residents.
One of them was Heard and McDonald Islands, an Australian external territory in Antarctica inhabited only by penguins and seals.
Despite having no human inhabitants - or imports and exports - the island now faces a 10% tariff on all goods destined for the US.
The Australian territory of Norfolk Island, a volcanic island 600 miles east of Queensland, was also hit with a hefty 29% tariff on exports to the U.S. That's much higher than mainland Australia, which had a 10% tariff.
The news was met with confusion by some of Norfolk Island's 2,188 residents.
"Norfolk Island is a small dot in the world," Richard Cottle, owner of a concrete mixing business on the island, said Thursday.
Although the island ships a modest amount of Kentia palm seeds abroad, this is usually worth less than $1m (£760,000) a year, with the products mainly going to Europe.
"Our flesh is beautiful, theirs is weak"
After announcing a 20% tariff against the European Union, Mr. Trump's Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick spoke to Fox News in an attempt to explain what was behind the decision.
In a short but strange speech, Mr. Lutnick spoke about the block ban on chicken imported from the US.
"I mean the European Union is not going to take the chicken from America," he said.
"They're going to get lobster from America... they hate our beef, because our beef is beautiful and theirs is weak."
The EU has a ban on chlorine-washed chicken - a practice that has been endorsed by the United States Department of Agriculture.
Although American beef is not completely banned in Europe, any beef that has been treated with artificial growth hormones - which is legal in the US and common among producers - is banned by the EU.
The world's poorest nations face the highest tariffs
Many of Mr. Trump's tariffs have targeted the world's poorest countries.
Lesotho in southern Africa, ranked as the 22nd poorest country in the world, has been hit with the highest tax of 50%. It mainly exports diamonds and clothing, with the US as one of its top five export destinations, Sky News' US partner network NBC News reported.
The second highest tariff went to Cambodia at 49%, even though the US is Cambodia's largest export destination.
Madagascar in East Africa, the world's ninth poorest country, will face reciprocal tariffs of 47%. It mainly exports vanilla, cloves and clothing, with the US among its top five export destinations, according to NBC.
'Can you use plastic eggs?'
In another part of his wide-ranging speech, Mr Trump delved into the topic of eggs - the price of which reached an all-time high earlier this year in the US due to the bird flu outbreak.
On Wednesday, Mr. Trump confirmed that the annual White House tradition of rolling about 30,000 Easter eggs across the South Lawn is expected to continue and will use real eggs, despite pleas to use plastic ones instead.
"They were saying for Easter, 'Please don't use eggs. Can you use plastic eggs?' I say, we don't want to do that," Mr. Trump said.
He did not clarify who was telling him not to use real eggs.
Lini një Përgjigje