‘They probably don’t even know where Norfolk Island is in the world,’ a resident says after the US imposed a 29 per cent levy on the Australian outpost.
For Richard Cottle, owner of a concrete-mixing business on Norfolk Island, there was only one explanation when US President Donald Trump unveiled a hefty 29 per cent tariff on the tiny territory about 965km (600 miles) off eastern Australia: “it was just a mistake”.
Though the rugged volcanic island in the southern Pacific does ship a modest amount of Kentia palm seeds abroad, typically worth less than US$1 million a year, mostly to Europe, news of the unusually steep tariff passed through its 2,188 residents on Thursday with a mixture of amusement and confusion.
