Highest U.S. Tariffs On Africa

Africa has been hit by new US tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, with Lesotho slapped the hardest: a 50% charge on all goods exported to the US.

Trump’s rationale for the tariffs is to correct what he perceives as lopsided trade in favour of other countries and to bring manufacturing back to the US. However, the baseline 10% tariff on all imports into the US, and the higher rates on countries with trade surpluses, have been widely criticised as unfair and unjust.

Lesotho, which Trump has described as a place that ‘nobody has ever heard of,’ was on a list of what Washington sees as the ‘worst offenders.’ Lesotho made the most of the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA), a trade agreement between Africa and the US, to grow its exports, mostly textiles and diamonds. It sold goods worth $237.3 million to the US, while the latter exported just $2.8 million to the southern African nation.

Lesotho is now staring at potential job losses and factory closures, raising suspicions about the true intentions of AGOA. The deal’s framework is hinged on a set of conditions, among which is support for ‘democracy’ and ‘internationally recognised human rights.’ Washington reviews a country’s eligibility annually, and can revoke it based on non-adherence to these requirements – in other words, using AGOA to force Africans to toe Washington’s line (South Africa’s experience after filing a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice being a prime example).

The new tariffs have sparked strong opposition, with South Africa’s Economic Freedom Fighters party condemning them as ‘imperialist tactics designed to maintain America’s economic dominance at the expense of developing countries.’

Swipe through for the full African list.