New Delhi:
US President Donald Trump’s latest tariffs covered nearly every country in the world, including a few remote islands that host American military bases. The new measures extend to strategically important locations such as Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean and Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific tied to US national security.
Diego Garcia military base
One of the bizarre entries on the tariff list was the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT). It’s home to the Diego Garcia military base. While the BIOT has no civilian population, it is home to around 3,000 US and British military personnel stationed on Diego Garcia. This remote island in the Indian Ocean supports American military operations in the Indo-Pacific, according to CNN. Though the region has no exports to speak of and remains inaccessible to the public, Trump’s 10 per cent tariff now applies to it.
The base is jointly operated with the UK and is seen as a critical launchpad for operations across Asia and the Middle East.
The BIOT, which includes the Chagos Archipelago, has long been at the centre of a territorial dispute between the United Kingdom and Mauritius. All Chagossian civilians were evicted in the 1960s and 70s to make way for the military base, leaving only security and support staff behind.
A recent AP report said that satellite imagery revealed at least six US nuclear-capable B-2 bombers positioned on Diego Garcia — representing a significant portion of the entire American B-2 fleet. Images captured by Planet Labs on March 26 showed three of the bombers parked on the island’s tarmac.
Kwajalein
Another US military hub caught in this tariff net was the Marshall Islands. Despite being a close partner under the Compact of Free Association, which puts Washington in charge of its defence, the Pacific nation now finds its exports to the US subject to a 10 per cent tax. This includes goods from Kwajalein, where the US Army Garrison operates a ballistic missile tracking and testing facility, according to CNN.
Experts, however, were quick to downplay the significance of the move. “The tariffs will have no practical effects on the British Indian Ocean Territory and Chagos Islands as overseas military bases are exempt from the tariffs,” Dr Eric Golson, an economic warfare specialist and associate professor at the University of Surrey, was quoted as saying by Newsweek.
The US President announced the tariffs during a press event he called “Liberation Day,” framing them as a way to restore what he called “reciprocal trade.”
Apart from a baseline 10 per cent tariff on all trade partners, the Trump administration’s list also included the uninhabited Heard and McDonald Islands in the sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean.
The islands were included because they were Australian territory, Axios reported citing a White House official.
Apart from imposing a baseline 10 per cent tariff on all trade partners, the Trump administration’s list also included the uninhabited Heard and McDonald Islands in the sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean. Yes, no one lives there.
The islands were included because they were part of Australian “external territory”.