Penguins are having a ‘protest march’ against Donald Trump’s tariffs - yes, really

In the middle of all the economic turmoil and chaos triggered by US president Donald Trump’s tariffs on global trade, the internet found some amusement in the fact that the Republican had somehow managed to slap 10 per cent tariffs on remote islands near Antarctica which has no human inhabitants, but is instead home to penguins and seals.

Heard Island and the McDonald Islands, an external territory of Australia, are one of the most remote places on Earth, and according to commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, Trump placed tariffs on the islands to bring about the end of “ridiculous loopholes”.

Except the internet ended up having a field day ridiculing the Trump administration for tariffing penguins, creating memes of the flightless birds fighting back against the policy and even launching a social media account for the penguins titled ‘Penguins Against Trump’.

Incredible.

And when Trump said on Thursday that he would be implementing a 90-day pause of his “reciprocal” tarrifs – albeit while raising other duties placed on China to 125 per cent – the internet joked penguins had “won” a “trade war” against Donald Trump:

Now, a non-profit has waded – or rather, waddled – into the discourse to declare that penguins will be having a “protest march” on Wednesday against Trump’s tariffs.

We’re not joking.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Penguins International (great name) has announced it will livestream the Antarctic penguins’ annual migration from the ocean to their breeding grounds next week, calling the event the ‘Protest March of the Penguins’ in reference to the Trump administration’s blunder.

David Shutt, the non-profit’s executive director, said: “Wild penguins, like those that inhabit the Heard and McDonald Islands, face threats that are far more real than the tariffs that were imposed.

“Today, nine of the 18 species of penguins that exist are either listed as vulnerable or endangered of becoming extinct.

“We’re grateful to be able to use the unexpected attention on the Antarctic penguins to shine a light on the species as a whole, and to turn this news story into an opportunity to protect them for the greater good of the planet.”

Sounds ‘flipping’ awesome to us (sorry).

The march will be livestreamed on the non-profit’s YouTube channel on Wednesday, at 5pm EST (10pm BST), with Penguins International hoping to hold a real protest march on 25 April for World Penguin Day.

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