The tiny Australian external territory of Norfolk Island has been hit with a 29 per cent tariff in US President Donald Trump’s “liberation day” wave, baffling many.

“I’m not sure what Norfolk Island’s major exports are to the US or why it has been singled out, but it has,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said as he hit back at the sweeping US tariffs announced on Thursday morning (Australian time).

“Nowhere on Earth is safe.”

In another bizarre announcement by Trump in from the White House Rose Garden, the uninhabited Australian territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands – a volcanic group of mostly barren Antarctic islands, about two-thirds of the way from Madagascar to Antarctica – faces 10 per cent penalties on its exports to the US.

In a third, the British Indian Ocean Territory – seven atolls of more than 1000 individual islands in the Indian Ocean – has also been given a 10 per cent hit. It is home to a joint British and US military base on the island of Diego Garcia, and its only inhabitants are military personnel from both nations and their associated contractors.

Australia as a whole has copped a 10 per cent tariff on its beef exports to the US. But it has, overall, got off more lightly that some nations, including some of the world’s poorest economies in the Pacific.

Fiji faces duties of 32 per cent, Vanuatu 23 per cent and Nauru at 30 per cent.

That will mean Fiji Water, a favourite bottled water for many Americans, is about to get a lot more expensive.

Water makes up two-thirds of Fijian exports to the US, including the eponymous brand. The US is Fiji’s No.1 export market, with more than half a billion dollars worth of Fijian goods heading across the Pacific in 2024.

Should the tariffs lead to lower take-up of Fiji Water or other goods in the US, it will be a huge hit to the Fijian economy.

Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka is yet to comment on the tax slug.

Other nations – including Papua New Guinea, French Polynesia, Samoa, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Cook Islands, Kiribati and the Federated States of Micronesia – face 10 per cent tariffs.

For some countries, this will hurt more than others.

Tonga counts the US as its second-biggest export market, for Samoa, it is third, and Vanuatu, it is fifth.

However, Solomon Islands, with a GDP of almost $A3 billion, exported goods worth just $A1.75 million to the US in 2024, making it the 17th biggest export market and of little significance.

Vanuatu is not as exposed to the US economy as Fiji, but is another nation to be hit with a higher tariff rate, making its products less competitive.

In New Zealand, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said the Kiwi rate of 10 per cent should be seen as a success by a recent diplomatic mission.

“We went to Washington DC to get the best possible result for New Zealand in the circumstances, by making strong, genuine, in-person connections with the US Administration,” he wrote on social media.

“The purpose of our mission has been achieved. Indeed, New Zealand companies, who were fearing much worse, are well positioned compared to exporters from other countries.”

Trade Minister Todd McClay called the imposition of tariffs “a significant development” but was looking on the sunny side.

“Tariffs have consequences for the global economy – impacting inflation, demand, currency stability, and economic growth,” he said.

“While these tariffs create additional costs that will largely be passed on to consumers, New Zealand is in a stronger position than many other countries, some who are facing higher tariff barriers.

“We will be talking with the (Trump) administration to get more information, and our exporters to better understand the impact this announcement will have.”

-with AAP