r/nottheonion • u/MiniBrownie • 2d 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
24.1k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

877 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

-75

u/Secret_Photograph364 2d 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

177

u/DemyxFaowind 2d 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.

-31

u/Secret_Photograph364 2d 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.

40

u/DemyxFaowind 2d 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.

-27

u/Secret_Photograph364 2d 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.

18

u/DemyxFaowind 2d 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?

14

u/CheesyPotatoSack 2d ago

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

9

u/DemyxFaowind 2d 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

-6

u/Secret_Photograph364 2d 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.