Sec. Lutnick Was Asked About Tariffs Against 'Penguin-Inhabited Islands'… Here's What He Had To Say

Posted • April 7, 2025: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick explained on Sunday why President Trump’s tariffs included the uninhabited Heard and McDonald Islands, a move against the Australian territory that has faced widespread mockery on social media. —— CBS’s Brennan: “Why are the Heard Island and McDonald Islands, which don't export to the United States, and are quite literally inhabited by penguins, why do they face a 10% tariff?” —— Lutnick: “If you leave anything off the list, the countries that try to basically arbitrage America go through those countries…we had the president put tariffs on China in 2018, and then what China started doing is they started going through other countries to America. And so the president knows that. —— He said, ‘look. I can't let any part of the world be a place where China or other countries can ship through them.’ So he ended those loopholes.” (…)

• More at: Townhall - Lutnick Was Asked About Tariffs Against 'Penguin-Inhabited Islands.' Here's What He Had to Say.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/leahbarkoukis/2025/04/07/lutnick-explains-why-tariffs-imposed-on-penguin-inhabited-islands-near-antarctica-n2655114