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In April 2025, the White House listed Heard and McDonald Islands—a remote Australian territory with no permanent human population—at a 10% reciprocal-tariff rate. The islands are home to penguins, seals and other wildlife, but they are not an independent country. The rate is historical: a February 2026 executive order ended the specified additional duties imposed under the relevant emergency-powers orders, including the reciprocal-tariff order, and directed agencies to stop collecting them as soon as practicable. That did not end every possible U.S. duty.
What islands were on the tariff list?
The listing concerned Heard and McDonald Islands, an Australian external territory in the subantarctic near Antarctica. The territory is uninhabited by people. Describing it as “inhabited only by penguins” is a memorable shorthand, not a complete account of its wildlife: seals and other species are present too. The islands and their coastal waters are World Heritage-listed. The Guardian’s April 2025 report described the tariff listing and the islands’ lack of human inhabitants; the Australian Antarctic Program’s March 2026 report gives recent conservation context.
The territory is part of Australia, not a separate nation. Its appearance on a U.S. tariff list therefore raised a practical question: how could a remote, uninhabited territory be assigned a tariff rate? The published list establishes that it was included, but the available reporting does not establish the administration’s specific reason for including it. Claims that the listing was intended to address transshipment or another particular trade concern would go beyond what these sources show.
What tariff rate was announced, and when?
On April 2, 2025, the White House’s reciprocal-tariff list assigned Heard and McDonald Islands a 10% rate. That is the announced 2025 rate, not a current tariff quote. The White House order and its annex provide the official listing; contemporaneous coverage also reported the rate, and a fact check corroborated it. The Guardian quoted Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying, “Nowhere on Earth is safe,” a remark about the broad reach of the tariff list that supplies the headline’s opening phrase.
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Is the 10% tariff still being collected?
Do not treat the April 2025 figure as the rate currently being collected. On February 20, 2026, Executive Order 14389 said additional ad valorem duties imposed under the listed International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) orders, including the reciprocal-tariff order, “shall no longer be in effect.” It directed agencies to terminate collection as soon as practicable. Executive Order 14389 also specifies that other duties are unaffected. Its termination therefore does not establish that all U.S. duties on any particular import ceased.
A product’s actual import charges can depend on its tariff classification and the rules in effect when it enters the United States. The cited order alone is not enough to determine a current rate for a particular shipment; importers need to check the applicable classification and current customs guidance.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why the islands matter beyond the headline
Heard and McDonald Islands are not just a surprising entry on a trade list. The Australian Antarctic Program reported that its 2026 campaign included two voyages surveying penguin and seal populations, installing remote monitoring equipment and confirming H5 bird flu. Those details underline that the territory is a real, ecologically significant place, even though no one lives there permanently. They do not, by themselves, explain why the islands appeared on the 2025 tariff list.
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What the episode does—and does not—show
- Established: the White House’s April 2, 2025 reciprocal-tariff list assigned Heard and McDonald Islands a 10% rate.
- Established: the territory is Australian and has no permanent human population; wildlife includes more than penguins.
- Changed: Executive Order 14389 ended the specified additional IEEPA duties under the listed orders, including the reciprocal-tariff order, and called for collection to end as soon as practicable.
- Not established by these sources: the administration’s specific rationale for listing this territory, or the current duty for a particular product or shipment.
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