LESOTHO PUNISHED FOR TRADE SUCCESS

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That's the predicament Lesotho finds itself in after US President Donald Trump imposed a staggering 50 per cent import tax on 2 April on this landlocked African country’s exports to the US, primarily affecting textiles and diamonds.

Many have hailed Lesotho as a success story under the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA), a US trade initiative that allows 32 African states to export goods to the US without tariffs.

Lesotho has capitalised on AGOA by establishing garment factories that provide denim jeans to US retailers, such as Calvin Klein, GAP, Levi's, Old Navy and Walmart. Approximately 30,000 factory workers, predominantly women, are employed, benefiting many of Lesotho's 2.3 million citizens.

According to the World Bank, with a GDP per capita of $1,106, Lesotho struggles to purchase many US products to satisfy Trump's reciprocal trade demands. In 2024, it exported $237.3 million in goods to the US but only imported $2.8 million worth of US goods. This perceived trade imbalance has drawn Trump's ire towards a nation he recently remarked ‘nobody has ever heard of.'

Sources

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8dgmyzqr6do

https://www.africanews.com/2025/04/05/lesotho-textile-industry-hangs-in-the-balance-following-new-us-tariffs

https://archive.ph/kVXeH

https://archive.ph/OkSDs

https://agoa.info/data.html

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-67284812

https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/2024%20List%20of%20AGOA%20Eligible%20and%20Ineligible%20Countries%2011162023.pdf

https://www.timeslive.co.za/lifestyle/2025-03-06-does-trump-really-not-know-about-lesotho-this-shirt-might-prove-otherwise

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/apr/04/lesotho-garment-workers-reel-trump-tariffs

https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/lesotho/overview#:~:text=Lesotho%20is%20a%20small%2C%20mountainous,from%20Britain%20in%20October%201966.

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250403-lesotho-hardest-hit-as-new-us-tariffs-rattle-africa

https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/2024%20List%20of%20AGOA%20Eligible%20and%20Ineligible%20Countries%2011162023.pdf