"Lesotho’s Textile Sector Braces Up as Trump-Era Deadline Nears", 6 May 2025

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With just two months left before the expiration of a tariff freeze introduced by the Trump administration, Lesotho’s crucial textile industry is teetering on the edge. A looming 50% tariff on textile exports to the United States could undo decades of growth, triggering mass job losses and industrial collapse in one of Southern Africa’s smallest nations.

Lesotho’s textile industry, buoyed by trade agreements like the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), has benefited from duty-free access to U.S. markets...

Currently, about 75% of textiles produced in Lesotho are destined for the United States, leaving approximately 12,000 workers at immediate risk of unemployment should the tariffs be reinstated.

Mntoetse Shoaepane, General Manager at Afro Expo Textile, voiced her alarm at the potential fallout.

“It’s going to affect all industries including transport, household and all businesses that give direct services to factory workers. These employees have children that they are taking to school where they are paying for services. If tariffs are to go by, investors will leave and factories will shut down,” Shoaepane said.

“It affects all the industries that we have that encompasses the well-being of a person in Lesotho. So if we had to say anything, we would plead with the president of America—that President Donald Trump reconsider this and remove the tariffs,” she added...

Economic analyst Majakatha Mokoena predicted a swift investor pull-out if the tariffs return.

“The only thing that tariffs will do is increase the prices of the products, and if the prices go up and cannot compete with domestic products, that is when the problem begins. Investors will leave and the demand for goods will decline. We will end up in a situation where firms will close,” he said...

For workers like Mponyane Kekane, a factory employee in Maseru, the uncertainty is deeply personal.

“I am not happy about all this because if anything is to go by, that means I will lose my job. As of now the salary that I earn is too little—I can’t afford to take care of my fifteen-year-old son. How about if I lose my job because of these tariffs?” Kekane said...