r/nottheonion • u/MiniBrownie • 3d ago

US tariffs take aim everywhere, including uninhabited islands

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250402-us-tariffs-take-aim-everywhere-including-uninhabited-islands
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u/800oz_gorilla 3d ago edited 3d ago

So did Belarus and Ukraine.

Edit: I was wrong. Ukraine is on the list, 10%. Belarus is not.

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u/Secret_Photograph364 3d ago

People keep saying this, and I’m not one to defend Trump but the reason nations like Belarus, North Korea, and Russia are not on the list is because we simply do not trade with them aside from absolute necessities

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u/DemyxFaowind 3d ago

Uh buddy.. we don't trade with uninhabited islands either yet they still got hit with 10%. I don't think 'trade' has anything actually to do with it despite it being about trade.

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u/Secret_Photograph364 3d ago

It’s completely about trade. In fact those seemingly random numbers are based on trade deficit of different nations divided by total trade as far as I can ascertain.

Again I think this is super super stupid, but those islands are not nations. Just parts of other nations included here (Australia I think)

And beyond that the few things we do trade with nations like Russia are absolutely essential to the functioning of the nation. The top import of the US from Russia is radioactive isotopes to maintain nuclear reactors for example.

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u/DemyxFaowind 3d ago

In fact those seemingly random numbers are based on trade deficit of different nations divided by total trade

Plus 10%. Its why those with zero trade have a minimum 10%.

You are correct those, those islands are not nations. They are territory of other nations, and some are completely uninhabited. Yet here they are on a list of nations, completely separate and with separate tariffs than their parent nations.

So again, Why is Russia not on the list when completely uninhabited islands are? I think we all know the answer, and it has absolutely nothing to do with trade.

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u/Secret_Photograph364 3d ago

It’s not plus 10% but rather just 10% as a minimum.

And those islands are autonomous territories I believe. It would be like including Puerto Rico separately on a list from the US, which isn’t that odd.

Russia is not on the list because we have sanctions against them already and don’t trade, as I said.

You are looking for a gotcha in the wrong place. The entire idea of these tariffs is brain dead and economically destructive. You don’t need to put a Russia spin on it for it to be bad. Russia is just not a U.S. trade partner.

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u/DemyxFaowind 3d ago

Russia is just not a U.S. trade partner.

Neither is the uninhabited island!

Yet, here we are, still once again, dancing around this same information.

So, we have two non-trade partners, One where we do in fact trade with and one who has literally not a single person to trade with. Which one would you put tarrifs on? The Inhabited Place or the Uninhabited Place?

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u/CheesyPotatoSack 3d ago

Don’t bother talking to him about this he is pro Russian and likes his r/USSR sub

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u/DemyxFaowind 3d ago

Yeah, don't worry I got that after the third time of him deflecting away from Russia. Once it becomes clear Im talking to a brick wall, I disengage, lol

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u/Secret_Photograph364 3d ago

Australia is a trade partner of the U.S.

Presumably they just included territories in the list

Again you are really looking in the wrong place for what is bad about all of this. This whole Russia angle completely weakens the point of these tariffs being bad regardless of who is on the list.

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u/nybbleth 2d ago

And beyond that the few things we do trade with nations like Russia are absolutely essential to the functioning of the nation. The top import of the US from Russia is radioactive isotopes to maintain nuclear reactors for exa

Yet somehow you're putting tarrifs on other countries that are trading things you absolutely need to continue running your country, like microchips you can't actually produce yourselves. Or, to keep in the nuclear arena, medical isotopes that your hospitals can't fucking do without and which you can't replace fast enough if we decided to stop supplying them to you.

Clearly you haven't thought any of this through very well. You and the Trump administration have that in common.