Trade war

Duties on Lesotho and uninhabited islands in Antarctica: Trump's absurd geography

The US president's tariffs hit poor economies and remote places around the world. The red thread, however, is the link with China

3 April 2025

Anche le economie povere finiscono nel mirino dei dazi di Trump

3' min read

Key points

Commercial policy shock
Southeast Asia
Lesotho&Liberia
Penguin Taxes

3' min read

They range from Lesotho, which in the words of Donald Trump himself is a country 'no one has ever heard of' to earthquake-ravaged Burma (Myanmar), via the vanilla of Madagascar and the penguins of Antarctica. Trump's duty list is a tour of the World in a single day, which borders on some geographical absurdities.

Commercial policy shock

Overturning decades of US policy and threatening to unleash a global trade war, Trump announced on 2 April a series of tariffs that he said were designed to prevent the US economy from being 'cheated'.

The list includes the world's largest economies, starting with China and the EU, but also includes some bizarre names: for example, among the most affected countries is Cambodia, a developing economy where 17.8% of the population lives below the poverty threshold, but has been saddled with a 49% tariff rate. More than half of the country's factories are said to be Chinese-owned: the country produces clothing, textiles and especially footwear. In 2024, Cambodia exported goods worth $9.92 billion to the US, up 11.4%, while US imports to Cambodia amounted to $264.15 million, up 2.7%. Total bilateral trade volume between the two nations reached USD 10.18 billion, up 11.2% from 2023.

Southeast Asia

In second place is another unfortunate Asian nation: the small, miserable and landlocked Laos, a country heavily bombed by the US during the Cold War, with 48%. Not far behind are Vietnam, a country in the process of industrialisation, with 46% and Myanmar, hit by a natural disaster and with a history of civil war following a military coup in 2021, with 44%.

Lesotho & Liberia

In addition to large countries like Nigeria, the axe of tariffs fell on the unknown Lesotho, made famous by Trump in a speech, with 50% tariffs: a small mountainous enclave within South Africa, the country has the second highest level of HIV infection in the world. And then on to the vanilla-exporting island of Madagascar, not exactly an economic powerhouse, and the equally marginal Botswana, which is, however, the kingdom of diamonds where the multinational De Beers has a big stake. Also on the African list is Liberia, a country plagued by the scourge of criminal youth gangs, which in the United States is perhaps best known for an old Michael Jackson hit from the 1980s: Liberian Girl.

Penguin Taxes

If for some marginal countries, the duties can be explained by a link to China, other geographical flags border on incomprehensibility. Such is the case of the Heard & McDonald Islands, an Australian outer territory in the Antarctic region, which has been hit with a 10% tariff. Beyond the tariff, the point is that the islands are uninhabited, they are 80% covered in ice and the only inhabitants are penguins. The only economy that existed on the island, the ctrade in elephant seal oil, essentially ended in 1877. Another Australian territory targeted by tariffs are the Cocos Islands: but at least these are inhabited and the 600 locals export 30% of goods (ships) to the US.

On the other side of the planet, the small Norwegian island and former whaling station of Jan Mayen faces tariffs of 10%. But nobody lives there permanently (some military personnel take turns there) and it has a zero economy.