Lesotho textiles would suffer despite a 15% reduction in Trump tariffs, according to the ministry

Lesotho’s trade minister stated on Friday that the country’s textiles industry might not be saved by the 15% modified tariff rate, which was cut by U.S. President Donald Trump from a disastrous 50% rate he had earlier threatened to impose.

In an executive order, Trump changed reciprocal tariff rates for dozens of nations, including Lesotho, which had been threatened with the highest rate of any U.S. trading partner—50%—since April.

“It’s a mixed feeling,” Mokhethi Shelile, the trade minister for Lesotho, told Reuters over the television. “The sad part is that it is still not good enough … this will lead to job losses.”

The Africa Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA), a U.S. trade program that grants eligible African countries duty-free access to the U.S. market, was a major source of support for Lesotho’s textile industry, which is its top export sector.

Oxford Economics estimates that because of that advantageous tariff, textiles accounted for almost 90% of manufactured exports and employed about 40,000 people, making them the largest private employer in the small mountain kingdom.

Numerous U.S. importers canceled orders of textiles made in Lesotho due to the prospect of tariffs, which resulted in widespread layoffs.

The devastation would probably not be stopped by the new tariff, Shelile said.

“Fifteen percent for the textile industry is as good as 50%, because there’s still no chance that our textiles will compete with Kenya or Eswatini, who have 10%,” he explained.

“Those are our direct competition” .

In support of its tariffs, the Trump administration claims that Lesotho imposed 99% duties on American goods. According to Lesotho officials, they are unaware of the White House’s methodology for arriving at that amount.

In April, the administration launched a barrage of tariffs, but halted their execution to allow nations to engage in negotiations.

In recent months, textile producers have expressed their desire to find new markets. Shelile stated that in an effort to have the rate reduced, his government would keep interacting with their counterparts in the United States.