Thetsane industrial area in Maseru is home to many garment factories. Archive photo: Sechaba Mokhethi
The Lesotho government has committed to continuing with negotiations to further reduce tariffs on its exports to the United States. This comes after the US revised its crippling 50% tariff on all Lesotho exports down to 15%, effective from 7 August.
“While we had negotiated the revision to at least 10%, which was applied to all countries, this rate [15%] will ease the burden to our exporters, particularly the textile and apparel industry,” Minister of Trade, Industry and Business Development Mokhethi Shelile told a media briefing last Friday in Maseru.
The textile industry was among the hardest hit after the US announced sweeping tariff increases in April under its “America First” trade policy.
The US had temporarily reduced the tariff to 10% for a 90-day negotiation period that ended 31 July. Shelile said during this time Lesotho had made a multi-pronged effort that included direct talks with the US embassy in Maseru, lobbyists in the US who highlighted how increased tariffs would lead to higher prices for American consumers, and a final push led by Minister of Finance Retselisitsoe Matlanyane and the Lesotho embassy in Washington DC.
“We are still committed to continuing negotiations so that our exports can enjoy the minimum tariffs that the US applies,” Shelile said.
Until April, Lesotho had enjoyed duty-free and quota-free access to US markets through the African Growth and Opportunity Act. That preferential agreement helped Lesotho’s textile sector grow to employ thousands of people.
“The US remains one of our main trading partners … and this relationship needs continuous nurturing,” the minister said.
A new South African Development Community-US Dialogue Forum is expected to be launched at the Southern African Development Community summit in Madagascar, which runs until 18 August.
This article was first published by GroundUp.