By Christian Martinez
(Reuters) -The small African country Lesotho received a modified tariff rate of 15% Thursday from U.S. President Donald Trump as the nation continued to reel from high tariffs the administration had threatened to implement earlier this year.
In an executive order, Trump modified reciprocal tariff rates for dozens of countries, including Lesotho, which had been under threat of a 50% rate since April, the highest of any U.S. trading partner.
The Trump administration defended its tariff rate on the mountain kingdom in Southern Africa as reciprocal, stating that Lesotho charged 99% tariffs on U.S. goods.
Lesotho officials have said they do not know how the White House arrived at that figure.
After announcing the barrage of reciprocal tariffs in April, the administration paused implementation to give countries time to negotiate.
Under the tariff threat and uncertainty, many U.S. importers canceled orders of Lesotho-produced textiles, leading to mass layoffs.
“If we still have these high tariffs, it means we must forget about producing for the U.S. and go as fast as we can … (looking for) other available markets,” Teboho Kobeli, owner of Afri-Expo, which makes jeans for export, told Reuters earlier this year.
(Reporting by Christian Martinez; Editing by Jamie Freed)
