U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a 50% reciprocal tariff on the tiny southern African mountain kingdom of Lesotho, the highest levy for any sovereign nation.
Trump announced Wednesday he’ll apply at least a 10% tariff on all imports, with even higher duties on some 60 nations, to counter large trade imbalances with the US. Lesotho charges 99% tariffs on American goods, according to the Trump administration.
Lesotho, bordered on all sides by South Africa, exported $264 million more to the US than it imported in 2022. The nation sells diamonds and apparel to the world’s biggest economy, according to data compiled by the Tralac Trade Law Centre, based in Stellenbosch, near Cape Town. The $2.1 billion economy is dependent on South Africa for 85% of its imports.
Lesotho Trade Ministry spokeswoman Mantletse Maile said she couldn’t immediately comment when contacted on Thursday.
What Bloomberg Economics Says…
“African countries are being penalized for having trade surpluses, some of them achieved by pursuing export-driven development policies, as advised by the US. Lesotho exports apparel to the US, a product that until recently enjoyed duty free access to the US, and helped create jobs for the youth that migrates in large numbers to neighboring South Africa. Lesotho’s other big export to the US is diamonds — most African countries export raw materials to America. One of Trump’s arguments for these tariffs is to bring back manufacturing jobs to the US. Slapping high tariffs on Africa is not going to help this narrative.”
– Yvonne Mhango, Bloomberg Africa economist
The US calculated the rates based on a formula that divides a country’s trade surplus with America by its total exports, based on data from the US Census Bureau for 2024. And then that number was divided by two, producing the “discounted” rate.
That method meant Lesotho and Madagascar, among the world’s poorest countries, were hit with a rate of 50% and 47% respectively.
U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a 50% reciprocal tariff on the tiny southern African mountain kingdom of Lesotho, the highest levy for any sovereign nation.
Trump announced Wednesday he’ll apply at least a 10% tariff on all imports, with even higher duties on some 60 nations, to counter large trade imbalances with the US. Lesotho charges 99% tariffs on American goods, according to the Trump administration.
Lesotho, bordered on all sides by South Africa, exported $264 million more to the US than it imported in 2022. The nation sells diamonds and apparel to the world’s biggest economy, according to data compiled by the Tralac Trade Law Centre, based in Stellenbosch, near Cape Town. The $2.1 billion economy is dependent on South Africa for 85% of its imports.
Lesotho Trade Ministry spokeswoman Mantletse Maile said she couldn’t immediately comment when contacted on Thursday.
“African countries are being penalized for having trade surpluses, some of them achieved by pursuing export-driven development policies, as advised by the US. Lesotho exports apparel to the US, a product that until recently enjoyed duty free access to the US, and helped create jobs for the youth that migrates in large numbers to neighboring South Africa. Lesotho’s other big export to the US is diamonds — most African countries export raw materials to America. One of Trump’s arguments for these tariffs is to bring back manufacturing jobs to the US. Slapping high tariffs on Africa is not going to help this narrative.”
– Yvonne Mhango, Bloomberg Africa economist
The US calculated the rates based on a formula that divides a country’s trade surplus with America by its total exports, based on data from the US Census Bureau for 2024. And then that number was divided by two, producing the “discounted” rate.
That method meant Lesotho and Madagascar, among the world’s poorest countries, were hit with a rate of 50% and 47% respectively.

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