French overseas territories have become countries in their own right – at least in the list of naughty nations to tax published by US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, April 2. French President Emmanuel Macron highlighted on Thursday that they would be taxed at "exorbitant rates," with La Réunion facing tariffs of 37%, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon 50%, and French Polynesia and the West Indies 10%.

French Polynesia, a largely autonomous territory, could suffer most. Exports accounted for nearly 10% of the archipelago's GDP in 2023 according to the national statistics and economic studies institute, with a quarter of those sales going to the United States, the main market for local fish. In other French territories, the operational scope of Trump's announcements remains doubtful. "To say the least, overseas territories are not commercial powers," Ivan Odonnat, director general of the bank Institut d'Emission d'Outre-mer, told Agence France-Presse.

In 2024, for example, the value of Martinique's exports to the US, Canada and Mexico peaked at €2.57 million, or 3.6% of its total exports, according to the French customs authority. In the same year, the Caribbean island's imports from the US came to €311 million. Nevertheless, some "agri-processing companies" are affected by Trump's tariffs, according to Alexandre Ventadour, a Martinique politician in charge of economic attractiveness. This is the case for rum producers. The sugarcane-based spirit is "enjoying growing success" on the American market, which has "major potential" for Martinique's distilleries, he said. "It's an opportunity that's becoming increasingly complex."

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