USA Secretary of Commerce Lutnick advocated for including deserted islands in the tariff list. Lutnick claimed that countries like China take advantage of legal loopholes through these islands.

While USA President Donald Trump’s customs duty tariffs continue to shake the world, USA Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick argued that including islands with no human population in the tariff list is “necessary to close legal loopholes.”

Heard and McDonald Islands, located in the Southern Ocean and under the administration of Australia, draw attention for being included in the tariff list despite having no human population.

Lutnick commented on the tariffs announced by President Trump on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” program.

When asked why a 10% tax is applied to these regions and if artificial intelligence was used in making this decision, Lutnick responded, “No. The aim is not to exempt any country from the list. Because if you exclude a place from the list, countries trying to exploit America indirectly send their products to us through those regions.”

Lutnick claimed that China and other countries take advantage of “legal loopholes” through such islands and thereby argued that they will help USA close its trade deficits.

On April 2nd, Trump announced that the USA will impose reciprocal tariffs on other countries, with a basic tariff rate of 10%.