The Trump administration did not use artificial intelligence to assemble a sweeping list of reciprocal tariffs unveiled last week, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CBS News on Sunday, after the inclusion of remote territories like Heard Island and McDonald Islands — occupied largely by penguins — raised eyebrows.
The islands, which are managed by Australia and have no permanent human population, were singled out for a 10% tariff because “there are no countries left off,” Lutnick told “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” arguing if any places are excluded from the list, other U.S. trading partners could “go through those countries to us” to avoid import duties. But a few countries were not included on last week’s tariff list, including Russia, which the White House argues is already subject to sanctions and other steep trade barriers.
President Trump’s order features 10% tariffs on virtually all countries and higher rates on nations that Mr. Trump accuses of unfair trade practices, including major exporters like China and Vietnam. The move has roiled markets, with critics chiding both the steep rates and the unorthodox formula apparently used to calculate them.
Lutnick said Mr. Trump isn’t backing off the tariffs that are set to take effect this week, telling Brennan they won’t be postponed to buy time for negotiations and arguing the goal is to boost domestic manufacturing and cut the U.S. trade deficit.
Tiny island territories with few if any exports weren’t spared from Mr. Trump’s trade agenda, drawing confusion and even scattered speculation that a tariff list distributed by the White House was generated by an artificial intelligence tool like ChatGPT.
Heard Island and McDonald Islands are located in a remote part of the Indian Ocean, some 1,000 miles north of Antarctica and 2,400 miles southeast of Australia. The virtually undisturbed islands are known for their penguin and seal populations, but Australia’s Antarctic Program says “human activities in the region have been, and remain, limited.”
They’re also far from shipping routes and often beset by rough seas, Australia says, despite Lutnick’s claim that countries hoping to evade tariffs could ship goods through the islands.
Other sparsely populated islands were hit by even steeper levies than Heard and McDonald’s 10% rate. The White House says the British-controlled Falkland Islands (population 3,662) will face 41% tariffs and Australia’s Norfolk Island (population 2,188) will face 29% duties. The tariffs on Norfolk Island drew pushback from Australian officials, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese calling the island’s inclusion “somewhat unexpected and a bit strange.”
