Lesotho scrambled to put together a delegation on Friday to head to Washington to engage with the United States on tariffs that risk wiping out nearly half of its exports, its trade minister said, in what could be a death blow to its economy.
The 50% reciprocal trade tariff on the southern African mountain kingdom was the highest levy on US President Donald Trump's list of target economies.
"The latest policy direction undertaken by the United States is shocking ... as (it) ... has been a very important market for Lesotho," Trade Minister Mokhethi Shelile told parliament on Friday, adding that the 45% of exports went to the United States.
He said that officials had already engaged the US embassy "to clarify and how, why Lesotho was included in the list of ... such high reciprocal tariffs". Last month, Donald Trump sparked a backlash after labelling Lesotho a country ’’nobody has ever heard of.’’
High-level delegation
Trump on Wednesday hit America's global trading partners with tariffs, upending decades of rules-based trade that campaigners have long said is exceptionally favourable to rich countries like the United States.
Lesotho's exports to the United States, mostly textiles for popular brands such as Levis, added up to $237 million in 2024 and account for more than a tenth of its GDP.
"Lesotho is also assembling a high-level delegation to the United States to try to maintain the current market dispensation," Shelile said.
In the medium term, he said, the kingdom would "increase efforts to export to alternative markets such as the European Union and the Africa free continental trade area".
South Africa reacts to US decision
Encircled by a South African mountain range, the kingdom of 2 million people is one of the world's poorest countries, with GDP per capita of $916 in 2023, according to World Bank figures.
Meanwhile, South Africa's government said on Friday that tariffs announced by President Donald Trump this week effectively nullified provisions of the US trade initiative, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
AGOA, which grants qualifying African nations duty-free access to the US market, is due to expire in September. And Trump's far-reaching tariffs suggest that a renewal of the trade accord enacted in 2000 is now unlikely.
Addressing a press conference, South Africa's foreign and trade ministers said the government may seek to secure additional exemptions and quota agreements with the US as well as diversify its export markets.
"The sweeping tariff measures will affect several sectors of our economy, including automotive industry, agriculture, processed food and beverage, chemical, metals and other segments of manufacturing, with implications for jobs and growth," the two ministers said in a joint statement.
"The government will invest strategically in industries impacted by the tariffs, supporting economic growth through modernization and targeted infrastructure development."
