One of the world’s poorest countries is reeling from the impact of US President Donald Trump’s tariff regime, which has crippled its key textile industry and exacerbated already high unemployment.
That’s how the historic pivot in US trade policy is unfolding in Lesotho, the landlocked, southern African mountain kingdom whose denim manufacturing has been a rare economic bright spot. Trump initially put 50% levies on imports from Lesotho, the highest in the world. Despite a cut to 15% in August, those duties still outstrip those on competitors like Kenya, and some factories have eliminated jobs as orders dried up.