The United States defends prices on the remote island of penguins and seals

The American trade secretary defended the country’s decision to impose prices on a group of uninhabited islands, which are only populated by penguins and seals.

The taxation of prices on the Heard and McDonald Islands was supposed to fill “ridiculous gaps” and would prevent other countries from shipping through the islands to reach the United States, Howard Litnick told BBC CBS.

The authorities in Australia reacted with surprise last week when they discovered the prices on the island, which is 4,000 km (2,485 MI) of Australia.

His Minister of Trade, Don Farrell, told ABC of press that the taxation of prices was “clearly an error” indicating a “precipitated process”.

But when they asked him questions about the inclusion of Australian territory on the list of Trump prices, Lutnick said: “If you leave anything on the list, countries trying to arbitrate, America, go through these countries.”

“The president knows it, he is tired, and he will solve this problem.”

Lutnick’s interview was one of the many US government officials to defend the president’s new tariffs after the three main stock indexes in the United States plunged more than 5% on Friday, in The worst week for the US stock market since 2020.