Trump tariffs hit Africa's exports hard

The heavy tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump are shaking up trade ties between Washington and several African countries, and have raised concerns across the African continent.

Among the African nations hardest hit by the tariffs is Lesotho, a tiny, impoverished mountain kingdom entirely surrounded by South Africa.

Lesotho, a major textile exporter, now faces a 50% levy on its exports to the US — the highest under Trump's new global trade measures.

Lesotho fears trade fallout
This high rate is "not based on facts on the ground," and the government is seeking to clarify the situation with Washington, Lesotho's trade minister, Mokhethi Shelile, told DW.

"We have in total about 11 factories that are supplying the American market," he said. "And those companies employ more than 12,000 people which represents about 42% of the total employment in the textile industry in this country."

"We need to urgently travel to the US to engage with its executives and plead our case," Shelile told reporters on Tuesday. "My biggest concern was the immediate closure of factories and job losses."

Lesotho's garment factories have produced jeans for major US brands like Levi's and Wrangler. The US is its second-largest trading partner after South Africa.

Amid fears of job losses, Shelile suggested regional trade expansion without losing sight of global markets.

US tariffs have also hit South Africa's equity market and weakened the rand, noted analyst Daniel Silke, director of the Cape Town-based Political Futures Consultancy.

South Africa's vehicle exports also hit hard
The 30% tariffs may not impact South Africa's overall GDP but will hit key sectors like agri-business and vehicle exports, Silke said.

"These sectors are regional contributors to our GDP, especially in the Western and Eastern Cape [region]... where there could be job losses particularly in the automobile export industry," he told DW, adding that about 10% of South Africa's vehicles are exported to the US.

South Africa will seek new markets for agri-exports, but wine and fresh produce will feel the initial impact, Silke noted, while the Citrus Growers' Association of Southern Africa warned that the new tariffs could jeopardize 35,000 citrus-related jobs in the country.

AGOA trade deal undermined by new tariffsAccording to Silke, the US tariffs effectively nullify the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a program that provides eligible countries in the region with tariff-free access to US markets, and runs under the motto "trade, not aid."

The legislation guarantees duty-free access for African goods and helped industrialize the continent, creating hundreds of thousands of textile jobs.

For South Africans, the effects will be felt not only in export margins but in inflation, employment and interest rate policy.

Kenya also exports clothes to the US, however, Washington has imposed a lower tariff of 10%, meaning its economy will not be hit as hard as other countries. Ghana, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, Senegal and Liberia were also among those whose exports to the US will be subject to the baseline tariff of 10%.

AGOA's future uncertain"The reciprocal tariffs effectively nullify the preferences that sub-Saharan Africa countries enjoy under AGOA," South Africa's foreign and trade ministers said in a joint statement. The trade agreement ends in September 2025 and hopes for a renewal are fading, experts say.

"There is still uncertainty whether AGOA is dead and buried," said Silke, suggesting that the tariffs supersede the AGOA principles and therefore South Africa's only option may be to renegotiate a bilateral trade deal with the US.

Silke suggested the tariff formula is problematic, because "it does not reflect the various nuances that each country has in terms of their own domestic economy and export structure as in the case of Lesotho, which has been dealt the hardest hand."

Africa eyes new markets
With a diversified economy and China as its top partner, South Africa may now look beyond the US for new markets, Silke said.

"The political consequences, which are deeply connected through the economy, are going to be far-reaching and may not be wanted from Washington as a result," Silke concluded.

Kako Nubukpo, an economist and former government minister in Togo, warned that the tariffs would hit African nations already suffering from political difficulties.

"Those left behind by globalization appear more and more numerous. And so we've seen an increase in illiberal regimes, whether that's in Europe, Africa or America," he told the AFP news agency. "[But] protectionism is a weapon of the weak and I think Trump has realised that in the competition with China, the United States is now the weaker one."

In response, "African countries should promote their own national and regional value chains" as buffers against the tariffs, Nubukpo said.