US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick gave a clear explanation for the seemingly unreasonable decision when the US included the Heard and McDonald Islands - located 4,000 km from Australia - in the list of counterpart taxes.
According to Mr. Lutnick, the main goal of imposing tariffs on remote territories such as Heard and McDonald's is to close all the "loopholes" that countries can take advantage of to evade taxes.
He stressed that President Donald Trump does not want any location to become a transit station for goods, thereby avoiding trade barriers when entering the US market. If you miss any place, countries that are making a profit from the US will want to go through those places to come to us, Lutnick said.
The incident began when President Trump announced a list of countries and territories subject to countervailing tariffs last week. In addition to the familiar names, the appearance of Heard and McDonalds - an uninhabited territory of Australia - has stunned the public and Australian authorities. Meanwhile, countries that are often considered US opponents such as Russia, North Korea or Belarus are not on the list.
In an interview with CBS News on April 6, a host asked Mr. Lutnick directly whether the tax list was created by artificial intelligence. Mr Lutnick laughed and completely dismissed the information, saying the list was the result of a no place is ignored policy.
Australia's response was clear of surprise. The US authorities said it was hasty to include Heard and McDonalds in the tax list, especially in the context of no residents and almost no regular trade.
However, some World Bank reports show that from this territory, there have been small shipments exported to the US in the past few years. In 2022, the total import turnover from Heard and McDonalds to the US will reach about 1.4 million USD, mainly electrical equipment and machinery, according to BBC information.
The US decision is controversial, but according to Mr. Lutnick, it is important not to let any loopholes in the trading system be exploited, even if it is a remote archipelago with only liveing canhverats.
