President Trump's sweeping new tariffs apply to nearly every nation and territory in the world, from economic superpowers to barely-populated islands with little economic activity.
Not all countries face the same level of tariffs. Trump set a minimum level of 10% for everyone, but many face significantly higher rates. To decide who should pay more, his administration used a remarkably simple formula. It divided a country's trade deficit (how much more we buy from them than they buy from us) by the value of its exports to the United States., then cut that number in half to set the new tariff rate.
While that approach was surely more efficient than the exacting task of doing a deep dive into the economic relationship the U.S. has with nearly 200 individual countries, it did result in some head-scratching decisions that don’t appear to fit within Trump’s stated goal of fighting back against nations he believes are taking advantage of America.
These are a few of the little-known, remote and economically insignificant places that were slapped with high tariff rates.
Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island is an Australian territory in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia. The tiny island is less than 14 square miles in size and is home to about 2,000 people.
The island's economy is based largely on tourism and exports less than $1 million in goods annually. Still, Trump imposed a 29% tariff on items coming from Norfolk Island. New reporting from the Guardian suggests that the elevated rate may be the result of mislabeled shipments of goods that were actually sent to the U.S. from the county of Norfolk in England or delivered to ports in Norfolk, Va. A spokesperson for the territory's local government told an Australian news station that they may only have to pay the 10% tariff applied to the rest of Australia. The issue is largely academic, however, because the island has "no known exports" to the U.S.
Heard Island and McDonald Islands
These small, uninhabited islands are also Australian territories, though they are closer to Antarctica than they are to any part of their home country. Named after a pair of American explorers who discovered them, the islands are home to large populations of birds, seals, penguins — but zero humans, other than scientists who occasionally travel there for research.
And yet, a complete absence of any international trade was not enough to spare them from Trump's 10% baseline tariffs. Like Norfolk Island, Heard and McDonald Islands may have also been targeted because of mislabeled shipments that originated in Europe.
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
This French territory, made up of a small string of islands off of Canada's northeast coast, was hit with a whopping 50% tariff, tied for the highest rate of anywhere on Earth. Home to just over 5,000 people, the islands are described by the CIA World Factbook as the "sole remaining vestige of France's once vast North American possessions."
Saint Pierre and Miquelon do export a few million dollars worth of shellfish annually, but very little of that — if any — makes its way to the U.S. in most years. There is one major exception, though. In July of 2024, the territory sent $3.4 million in goods to America — potentially in a single transaction. While that was an extraordinary historical outlier, it still meant that the islands had a huge trade imbalance with the U.S. last year, which is likely the reason that they were hit with such a lofty tariff rate.
Lesotho
The only other country facing a 50% tariff is Lesotho, a small nation that is completely encircled by South Africa. Unlike some of the tiny territories on this list, Lesotho does have a substantial population of 2.2 million people. Trump's tariffs are likely to hit Lesotho particularly hard because its economy is heavily reliant on exports to the U.S. Last year, it sent more than $200 million in goods, mostly textiles, to the U.S., a figure that accounts for one tenth of its national gross domestic product. The country's finance minister called the tariffs shocking and said its government is attempting to find out why they were hit with such an abnormally steep rate.
Nauru
This island in a remote area of the South Pacific is the third-smallest nation on Earth with just 8 square miles of territory. It also has the second-smallest economy in the world in terms of gross domestic product. Frozen fish makes up more than 90% of Nauru's annual exports, though little of that makes its way to America. But because the impoverished island buys even less from the United States, it was stuck with a 30% tariff by Trump.
Liechtenstein
This small European nation tucked between Switzerland and Austria is home to just 40,000 people. The Embassy of Liechtenstein describes the country as having an "export-oriented economy" and lists the U.S. as its "largest overseas trading partner." It now faces a 37% tariff, nearly double the rate that was imposed on the European Union as a whole.
Liechtenstein is one of the world's leading manufacturers of a unique array of products, including microphones, dentistry equipment and components for steering columns used by several American car brands. On Thursday, its government expressed concern over the tariffs during an emergency meeting in which leaders discussed how to react to the economic risk the nation now faces.
