From 50% to 0%: Lesotho lauds US shift in tariffs

A local textile worker labels items in a clothing factory in Maseru, Lesotho. Until recently, Lesotho’s products entering the US had a 50% charge.

Products from the tiny southern African mountain kingdom of Lesotho, which had endured the highest tariffs on any nation from the US, can now enter the world’s biggest economy duty-free.

That’s after the US Supreme Court invalidated US President Donald Trump’s first global duties and as a second set of levies imposed by Washington under section 122 of the nation’s Trade Act expired. Also, the landlocked nation isn’t among the countries on whom the US placed tariffs ranging from 10% to 12.5% on July 24.

Until now, Lesotho’s products entering the US had a 50% charge.

“This provides immediate relief for Lesotho’s exports to the US,” the landlocked nation’s trade ministry said in a statement Thursday, a day after the tariffs expired. “Effectively, this implies that Lesotho’s textiles and apparel and fisheries products enter duty-free.”

Lesotho, encircled by South Africa, exported $364 million (R6 billion) more to the US than it imported in 2022. The nation sells diamonds and apparel to the world’s biggest economy, data published by the South Africa-based Tralac Trade Law Centre shows.

Lesotho imported $8 million of US products in 2022, according to Tralac.

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