‘Can't let any part of the world be a loophole, not even penguin islands,’ Says Lutnick on Trump tariffs

Lutnick maintained the approach was about pre-empting any possible route for circumvention.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Sunday defended President Donald Trump’s sweeping new tariff regime, saying it’s aimed at shutting down all possible loopholes that could be exploited by foreign exporters, including routes through remote territories like the Heard and McDonald Islands, which are inhabited only by penguins.

Speaking to CBS News’ Face the Nation, Lutnick said the administration had learned from past trade skirmishes that leaving any country off the tariff list creates opportunities for exploitation. “If you leave anything off the list, the countries that try to basically arbitrage America go through those countries,” he said.

Citing Trump’s 2018 tariffs on China, Lutnick said other nations had become a backdoor for Chinese exports into the U.S. “The president knows that,” he told CBS News. “He said, ‘Look. I can't let any part of the world be a place where China or other countries can ship through them.’ So he ended those loopholes.”

COMMERCE SEC LUTNICK: TRUMP HAD TO TARIFF PENGUIN ISLANDS TO CLOSE ALL LOOPHOLESCBSs Brennan:Why are the Heard Island and McDonald Islands, which don't export to the United States, and are quite literally inhabited by penguins, why do they face a 10% tariff?Lutnick: https://t.co/T8suzgvdBt pic.twitter.com/w48EtfJz2s
Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) April 6, 2025

When CBS anchor Margaret Brennan pressed Lutnick on the rationale behind placing tariffs on remote territories like the Heard Island and McDonald Islands — which don’t export to the U.S. and are “quite literally inhabited by penguins," Lutnick maintained the approach was about pre-empting any possible route for circumvention.

Last week, President Trump announced a 10% tariff on all imports from every country, while raising tariffs on dozens of nations that impose higher duties on U.S. exports. The measures are set to go into effect later this week. The announcement rattled financial markets, triggering the worst week on Wall Street since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The tariffs are coming. He announced that, and he wasn't kidding,” Lutnick told Face the Nation. He made it clear that the policy is final and not open to negotiation. “There is no postponing,” he said. “The president has made it crystal, crystal clear, this is the policy.”

Framing the tariffs as essential to national security, Lutnick said the U.S. must rebuild its domestic manufacturing base, citing vulnerabilities in the supply chains for medicines, ships, and semiconductors. “We’ve got to start to protect ourselves,” he said.

He acknowledged the dramatic shift this would bring but insisted the rest of the world has long been taking advantage of the U.S. “This is the moment that the United States of America takes hold of itself, and Donald Trump has been talking about this his whole life,” Lutnick said. “This is Donald Trump's agenda, and we're all here to help him execute.”

Also appearing on the program was Sen. John Barrasso, a Republican from Wyoming, who called the tariffs a “monumental change in the direction of our government.” He said they form part of a broader Republican economic plan to revive growth, including legislation to extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts.

“We have a comprehensive economic plan to get to a strong, healthy, growing economy for the American people,” Barrasso said, describing tariffs as a “tool.”