Economist Says Trump Tariffs Will Kill Tiny African Nation
Economist Says Trump Tariffs Will Kill Tiny African Nation
MERCILESS
Nandika Chatterjee
Breaking News Intern
Published 04.03.25 3:47PM EDT
https://www.thedailybeast.com/economists-say-trump-tariffs-will-kill-tiny-african-nation-of-lesotho/
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According to an economic analyst, the 50 percent reciprocal trade tariff President Donald Trump imposed on Lesotho will kill the tiny southern African kingdom that he ridiculed last month, NBC reported. It was the highest levy imposed by Trump in his merciless new string of tariffs on global trading partners on Wednesday. Lesotho, which in March Trump described as a country “nobody has ever heard of,” is one of the world’s poorest nations with a gross domestic product (GDP) of just a little more than $2 billion. It has a sizable trade surplus with the U.S., mostly diamonds and textiles like Levi’s jeans. In fact, its exports to the U.S. totaled $237 million in 2024, accounting for more than 10 percent of its GDP. The 40,000 workers in the textile sector in Lesotho accounted for about 90 percent of manufacturing employment and exports. “Then you are having retailers who are selling food. And then you have residential property owners who are renting houses for the workers. So this means if the closure of factories were to happen, the industry is going to die and there will be multiplier effects,” Lesotho Private Sector Foundation CEO Thabo Qhesi said, NBC reported. “So Lesotho will be dead, so to say.”
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