Lesotho, a country hit hard by the new tariffs announced by President Donald Trump, decided to urgently send a delegation to the United States to defend its cause. This is a vital issue for this small southern African kingdom, whose economy depends largely on the export of textiles and diamonds.
Impoverished and landlocked, Lesotho could not afford such a blow. With a 50% tariff increase, this small southern African kingdom is emerging as the first major victim of the new customs duties imposed by Washington.
Faced with the threat of economic catastrophe, the Lesotho government announced on Thursday, April 3, that it would send a delegation to the United States.
“We must travel urgently to the United States to engage in dialogue with their authorities and defend our cause,” Lesotho’s Trade Minister, Mokhethi Shelile, told reporters, warning of “the immediate risk of factory closures and job losses.”
This delegation’s mission will not be easy in a context where the new US administration seems unconcerned about the consequences of its economic policies.
“No one has ever heard of Lesotho,” the US president sneered in early March during a speech to Congress.
“Just listen to some of the horrific waste of aid (from the US to foreign countries) that we have already identified,” he asserted, citing as an example “eight million dollars earmarked to promote LGBTIQ+ rights in the African nation of Lesotho, which no one has heard of.”
While other African countries have also been targeted by the new “reciprocal tariffs” above the 10% minimum floor decreed by Washington—such as Madagascar (47%), Botswana (37%), and South Africa (30%)—Lesotho tops the list as the country most affected by the highest tariffs imposed on a single nation.
According to White House calculations, questioned by numerous economists, the small constitutional kingdom, led by King Letsie III, must pay the price for the trade deficit the United States maintains with them.
In 2022, the United States was the small African country’s second-largest trading partner, after South Africa, with exports worth $236 million, according to the World Bank’s World Integrated Trade Solution. In contrast, Lesotho imported $2.8 million worth of US goods, mainly machinery, medical equipment, and aircraft.
