The long list of Tariffs brandished by American President Donald Trump on his ‘day of Liberation’ catalogue a tariff on goods from all parts of the world, including ‘countries’ like Norfolk Island – part of Australia – which was slapped with a 29% tariff.  The data used apparently was collected from the Observatory of Economic Complexity citing Norfolk Island exports of US$655,000 (A$1.04m) worth of goods to the US in 2023, with its main export being US$413,000 (A$658,000) worth of leather footwear.

The only shoe shop on Norfolk Island confirmed zero sales to the US, and the US base figures appear to be paperwork mistakes confusing Norfolk Island with Norfolk England.

The real action however was in Asia, where China has effectively a 54% tariff, Vietnam gets 46% and Laos 48% for example.  The calculation appears to be the difference between exports and imports of goods (excluding services of which the US is a major exporter) and this figure then halved for some reason.

Wall st had the largest decline since the pandemic, and this looks to be the biggest hit on world trade since the Wall street crash.

Image: Image: Shutterstock – pbk-pg

Produced By: Roderick Chambers

Featured In Story: Dr Dominic Meagher – Chief Economist and Deputy Director John Curtin Research Centre, Australia National University’s College of Asia

First aired on The Wire, Saturday 5 April 2025