Saturday, April 05, 2025
Blunting the Percy Pig invasion
As the Guardian reports, Heard Island and McDonald Islands have been hit with a 10% tariff on goods. These islands form an external territory of Australia and are among the remotest places on Earth, accessible only via a two-week boat voyage from Perth on Australia’s west coast. The paper adds that are completely uninhabited, with the last visit from people believed to be nearly 10 years ago.
Other territories on the White House list were the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Christmas Island and Norfolk Island. Norfolk Island, which has a population of 2,188 people and lies 1,600km (1,000 miles) north-east of Sydney, was hit with a tariff of 29% – 19 percentage points higher than the rest of Australia. This has left local officials scratching their heads.
The Guardian says that the United States' Observatory of Economic Complexity data believes that in 2023, Norfolk Island exported US$655,000 (A$1.04m) worth of goods to the US, with its main export being US$413,000 (A$658,000) worth of leather footwear. However, George Plant, the administrator of Norfolk Island, disputes this. He told the paper that: “There are no known exports from Norfolk Island to the United States and no tariffs or known non-tariff trade barriers on goods coming to Norfolk Island.”
The Guardian thinks that there has been a case of mistaken identity, and that in fact, the goods originated in Norfolk, UK:
The Guardian has identified two bills of lading – records of cargo shipments – for shipments each containing 3,714 black Timberland men’s ankle boots that set sail from South Riding port in the Bahamas for Miami, Florida, in December 2023. The shipments were worth a combined total of US$315,000 (A$498,000).
The bills of lading list “Norfolk Island” as the country of origin and the address of the shipper as Timberland, 200 Domain Drive, Stratham 03885-2575, Norfolk Island.
Timberland’s corporate office address is listed as 200 Domain Drive, Stratham, New Hampshire on its LinkedIn page.
A spokesperson for Timberland shoes said: “We are in a quiet period and have no comment.”
Other bills of lading that appear to have erroneously listed Norfolk Island as the country of origin include several from an aquarium and fountain company, OASE, which sent shipments from Norfolk in the UK to the US, and steel equipment sent from Novum Structures in Norfolk, UK, to the US.
Novum Structure’s address is listed on one bill of lading as 14 Hopper Way, Diss Business Park, Diss, Norfolk Island, instead of Norfolk in the UK, which is its EU headquarters, according to Novum’s website.
Meanwhile, stock markets all over the world are taking a massive hit as a result of these tariffs, with the consensus being that the United States' economy is going to suffer badly from rising prices and more unemployment as a result.
United States-based victims of the policy could well be those with a sweet tooth. The Guardian reports that Trump has effectively derailed plans by Marks and Spencer to launch its Percy Pig range in Target stores there.
The paper says that Archie Norman, the chair of M&S, has described Percy as the retailer’s “gift to America” but he told the Retail Technology Show in London that “we might have to change our minds” because Trump has imposed additional taxes on imported goods. They add that while M&S is not considering withdrawing the sweets, tariffs could push up prices and make them less popular:
The pink confectionery which sells more than 18m bags a year in the UK and is apparently enjoyed by celebrities including Adele and Olivia Rodrigo, went on sale in the US on 30 March both in Target stores across the US and on its website in what was described as Percy’s “biggest journey to date”.
The pigs may have to stay at home.
