(3 Minutes Read)
Lesotho’s rate will be set at Trump’s whim, with aides suggesting that tariffs charged on goods from smaller African countries could top 10 percent.
US-imposed tariffs spelled disaster for this Lesotho factory that exported clothes to American stores. Now those tariffs have been reduced, but it could be too late. In the tiny African nation of Lesotho, clothing manufacturer Tzicc’s business has suffered due to tariffs imposed by the US President Donald Trump’s administration. A few months ago, work was steady. The factory’s 1,300 employees have made and exported sportswear to American stores, including JCPenney, Walmart, and Costco.
But when Trump announced sweeping new tariffs on nearly all US trading partners in April, Lesotho found itself topping the list, with a rate of 50 percent — higher even than that of China, where the economy is 8,000 times larger. Officials here and economic experts said they were baffled.
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Since then, Trump backed off — temporarily. During a month-long pause for trade talks, the US has charged a baseline 10 percent tariff and announced new rates for dozens of countries starting Friday. Lesotho’s rate will be set at Trump’s whim, with aides suggesting that tariffs charged on goods from smaller African countries could top 10 percent.
Many nations have received letters laying out a new tariff. With the pause set to expire Friday, Lesotho officials say they’ve not received one and they find themselves among the countries where Trump says officials simply don’t have time for one-on-one negotiations. Leaders — and the 12,000 people employed by garment factories exporting to the US market — are still waiting. The damage has already rippled through Lesotho’s economy, where textile manufacturing comprises the largest private industry with more than 30,000 workers in 2024.
