US tariffs: Lesotho declares state of disaster amid US tariff uncertainty
The declaration, in line with the country's Disaster Management Act, allows the state to "take all necessary measures to... minimise the effects of disasters" among others.The textile-dependent economy was already grappling with sky-high unemployment, especially among young people, before Trump slashed aid and raised trade barriers, according to an AFP report.Trump's tariffs could be death knell for US-Africa trade pactHow jeans and diamonds pushed Lesotho to the top of Trump's tariffs listLesotho was one of the biggest beneficiaries of the US's African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), which gives favourable trade access to some countries to promote their economic growth.According to the US government, the two countries traded goods worth $240m (£187m) in 2024, mostly exports from Lesotho to the US, in particular textiles and clothing.But that ended when Trump imposed a 10% tax on Lesotho, along with other nations, earlier this year. The additional 50% was suspended.One of Trump's aims with his tariff announcement is to reduce his country's trade deficit with the rest of the world.The government has warned it could lose up to 40,000 jobs if Agoa is not renewed at the end of September, according to AFP.Lesotho's Trade Minister Mokhethi Shelile told South African business news site Moneyweb last month that US buyers were "not placing orders because they don't understand what is going to happen".The country was also hard-hit by the termination of the US Agency for International Development's (USAID) programmes around the world.Lesotho is among those countries that benefited from the US President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar), which was launched in 2003.
More BBC stories on Lesotho:
On the hunt for the fugitive linked to illegal South African gold mine where 78 diedWhy leaving his own charity will matter so much to Prince HarryNine things about Lesotho - the country 'nobody has ever heard of'
Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Sadiq Khan says his mission to Africa will boost London business
Three countries and five cities in six days. London's mayor has certainly put a few miles on the clock in the past week in Sadiq Khan is the first mayor of the capital to go on a trade mission there - taking in Nigeria, Ghana and South him were about 30 businesses and representatives from London and Partners - the capital's so called growth agency that aims to attract investment previous mayors Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson, who went on similar trade missions, he has faced criticism from opponents for spending time out of London when there's plenty to do like previous mayors, Sir Sadiq has defended the trip as a way of promoting the capital to emerging what has he been up to on the whistle-stop tour? The trip started in Nigeria's biggest city, Lagos - and provided a chance to catch up with a number of firms from the city's growing tech sector. The message from Sir Sadiq was a clear one: partner up with London's tech firms - come and do business with perhaps of the drive during Covid when we were constantly told - "London is open".It was a message he repeated as he moved on to Accra in Ghana. Talking to students there he chose to fire a barbed message to his Labour colleagues in government - criticising proposals that could see universities having to pay a levy on international students' Sadiq talked of "the immense value international students bring to London and the UK" - and warned that "closing our country to global talent would be a pointless act of immense economic self-harm". The mayor followed that up with the promise of the first business summit between Africa and London - to be held in the capital next Dickie, the CEO of BusinessLDN, welcomed this pledge and backed the mayor's trip to Africa, saying: "London is a melting pot of communities, workers and businesses from across the globe."The mayor is absolutely right to bang the drum for closer ties with key high-growth markets. Boosting trade and investment links with the likes of Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa will benefit Londoners."As the tour started, the Conservative MP and shadow chancellor Mel Stride had suggested that the mayor should be back in London with "his hand on the tiller", addressing issues like shoplifting that affect small businesses. While BBC London is not on the current mayor's tour of Africa, I have been on similar ventures with Sir Sadiq and his predecessors Boris Johnson and Ken is interesting is the way they are generally greeted - the fact that being mayor of London is seen as a prestigious role - that London is regarded as a genuinely global can often be at odds with how they are viewed by the people in their own city. There have, of course, been mishaps along the way. Livingstone's trip to Venezuela to meet president Hugo Chavez only made it as far as Cuba. And when he was mayor Johnson had to cancel a planned visit to the West Bank after fears of that, the visits will continue whoever is mayor - as will the rows over whether such trade missions bring real value to London.
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
The deadly al-Qaeda affiliate terrorising western Africa
When Amadou Traoré was posted to an army base in western Mali, his family could take comfort that the soldier was far away from the jidahists pillaging towns and killing hundreds. The Kayes region, where he was based, had escaped the relentless terrorist attacks that led the US and UN to label Mali and its neighbours the new global epicentre of terrorism. But that reprieve from bloodshed ended this month. Lieut Traoré's family woke to reports of coordinated attacks in seven towns and cities across the region. 'Automatically, I called his wife: 'Have you heard from Amadou?' recalls his father, Ousmane. At the same time, social media began flooding with pictures of destruction unfolding in an area previously considered safe. As his family spent hours calling the army officer's mobile, his phone rang out and later it went straight to voicemail. 'It was the next day that his wife called me to tell me that she had been contacted to say her husband had died,' the retired teacher told The Telegraph. 'And that's how we learned. We learned and in turn, I informed his mother, I informed his brothers.' Ousmane's son was killed by the same al-Qaeda offshoot rampaging across Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. It has become one of the world's deadliest militant groups. Some 850 people have been massacred by Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) across the three countries in May alone, according to data from Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED), a US crisis-monitoring group. The surge in attacks has marked one of the deadliest periods in the Sahel's recent history and heightened fears about the stability of the region at a time when its junta regimes are estranged from former Western military allies. After more than a decade of insurgency bloodshed which has caused mass displacement, there are fears the violence is now pushing toward coastal west Africa. Gen Michael Langley, the top US commander in Africa, said reaching the coast was one of the terrorists' new objectives. 'If they secure access to the coastline, they can finance their operations through smuggling, human trafficking, and arms trading,' he said. Mali's government was able to repel JNIMs' attacks on July 1, but the push into the Kayes region has been described by analysts as a key change in the war. At the same time, there has been an apparent shift from rural guerrilla tactics to a campaign aimed at controlling territory around urban centres and asserting political dominance in the Sahel, they said. South-west Mali not only controls access to the nearby Senegal and Mauritania borders, but also contains much of Mali's gold wealth. Ulf Laessing, director of the Sahel programme at German think tank the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, said Mali still had a better grip on its south-west than elsewhere, but the new JNIM push could stretch government forces. 'JNIM is trying to establish a presence in south-western Mali near the Senegal border, which has been relatively quiet,' Mr Laessing told The Telegraph. 'The region is strategically important as Mali's main supply route for imports from Dakar passes through Kayes and western Mali. 'I think JNIM is trying to establish a new front, and force the army to move soldiers from the north and centre to the south.' Mali has been in deep crisis since early last decade, when Tuareg separatists and radical Islamist factions took over Timbuktu, Gao and other towns across the north. French military intervention had some early success pushing them back, but Paris soon became bogged down in a difficult counter-insurgency mission marred by strained ties with the government. The violence spread into Niger and Burkina Faso and in 2017 JNIM was founded in a merger of jihadist groups including al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). JNIM and its estimated 6,000 to 7,000 fighters has since been the region's strongest militant group and is led by Iyad Ag Ghaly. Ghaly, the former rebel leader in Mali's Tuareg uprisings in the 1990s, led Ansar Dine, the fundamentalist group, as part of a coalition that briefly occupied northern Mali in 2012. His ambition is thought to be to impose Islamic rule across the Sahel. Military coups in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have all capitalised on public anger at the failure to improve security in the face of JNIM's advance. Yet while the incoming juntas have kicked out Western allies, particularly the former colonial power France, and turned to the Kremlin for military support instead, the violence continues to worsen. The juntas and Russian mercenaries are meanwhile accused of turning people against them by conducting atrocities as they try to beat back JNIM's advance. Ibrahim Yahaya Ibrahim, of the International Crisis Group, said: 'The parties are fighting a war of attrition, with jihadist groups expanding in rural areas, and government forces and their Russian allies controlling urban centres.' Meanwhile, JNIM's battlefield tactics are reported to have become increasingly sophisticated, and now include the use of anti-aircraft weapons and drones. The group is also thought to gain hefty revenue from raids, cattle rustling, hijacking of goods, kidnappings and taxes on local communities. It has imposed taxes in areas it controls and imposed a form of Sharia law, requiring women to wear veils and men to grow beards. Mr Traore said that the JNIM attacks that had killed his son showed how powerful the group had become. He predicted only some form of negotiation would be able to stop the violence. He said: 'It will take time and in my opinion, it's negotiations, it's dialogue that we must consider. 'Because we're fed up with this war all the time. Attacks here and there, killings here and there and deaths. Really, we've had enough. We've had enough.'
Scotsman
3 hours ago
- Scotsman
Huge policing operation for Trump's Scotland visit - 'Few if any cops will not be impacted'
Strict airspace regulations will also be in place as part of vast security operation Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The head of the Scottish Police Federation has said all officers in Scotland could be affected by the visit this week of US president Donald Trump. David Threadgold, who chairs the body that represents rank and file officers, said some may be expected to work 12-hour shifts, posing a 'challenge' for how they eat, sleep and rest. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Strict airspace restrictions will also be in place over Mr Trump's inaugural Scottish golf resort as part of a vast security operation. Donald Trump has spoken fondly of his links to Scotland (Picture: Andy Buchanan) | AFP via Getty Images Speculation mounted about a potential visit of the president this month when Police Scotland confirmed it was in the early stages of planning for such an event. In Washington DC on Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Mr Trump will visit both of his golf courses in Scotland - Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire - between July 25 and 29. Mr Threadgold told Scotland on Sunday: 'This is a huge policing event for Scotland and we will require mutual aid because of the huge demand on my colleagues. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Very few if any cops will not be impacted by next week's visit and beyond. 'I suppose the natural comparison in terms of scale is previous presidential visits and COP26. 'We are talking about bespoke workforce plans because although this is a well-established workforce we are cognisant we cannot deliver this without impacting on individual officers across the country. 'What that means in simple terms is some may be required to work 12-hour shifts for example, which normally wouldn't happen. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'That is the type of change cops will see during this event. 'We also need to consider how officers will eat and drink and rest during this policing which will be a challenge.' He stressed that despite the added pressures the public should be reassured officers will continue to deliver community policing. 'This is already a difficult time for Police Scotland as they are trying to organise and deliver this at short notice during a period of high annual leave,' he said. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Time off 'very unlikely' 'We are not going to be telling officers they cannot go on holiday, but those who ask for time off at short notice are very unlikely to get it. 'Operation Roll is a very high demand event but we will continue to deliver community policing. 'Inevitably there will be an impact on our ability to do that, but the public should be reassured that emergencies will still be responded to, there just might be an impact on service delivery. 'There are so many people committed to this event but the public should be confident that we are excellent at what we do and our experience of policing things like Operation Unicorn and the Commonwealth Games should we can deliver.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Police Scotland is reported to have requested extra officers from across the UK to support the upcoming visit by Mr Trump. Assistant Chief Constable Emma Bond said a policing plan will be in place to 'maintain public safety, balance rights to peaceful protest and minimise disruption,' adding: 'The visit will require a significant police operation using local, national and specialist resources from across Police Scotland, supported by colleagues from other UK police forces as part of mutual aid arrangements. "Officers make sacrifices every day to keep people safe, and their dedication and professionalism is the reason we manage to deliver significant operations." Flying regulations Notices filed by the Civil Aviation Authority reveal that sweeping flying regulations will be put in place over the Aberdeenshire site for nearly two weeks. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad While Mr Trump's visit - his first to his mother's homeland since 2023 - will begin on Friday, the CAA restrictions began today, and will remain in place until 10 August. It means that over that 22 day period, no unmanned aircraft will be allowed to fly below 1,000 feet within a one mile radius surrounding Trump International Golf Links. The ban not only covers drones, but parachutes, paramotors, small balloons, and any kites, according to the documentation drawn up by the CAA's regulators. During Mr Trump's visit to Scotland in his first term in office, widespread protests included a paraglider who descended on his Turnberry resort in South Ayrshire brandishing a banner which read 'Trump: well below par'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad In the wake of the incident in July 2018, Police Scotland warned the paraglider that they had put themselves in 'grave danger,' given armed officers from the US and the UK were protecting Mr Trump, who had arrived at Turnberry shortly beforehand. A 55-year-old man was subsequently arrested, charged and released pending further inquiries, while that November, Police Scotland said a 35-year-old man had been reported to the procurator fiscal in connection with the incident. However, the Crown Office announced the following year that no criminal proceedings would be brought. Series of upcoming tournaments Mr Trump's Aberdeenshire resort is set to host a series of tournaments in the coming weeks. The Legends Tour Staysure PGA Seniors Championship, an event featuring veterans including Colin Montgomerie, Paul Lawrie, and José María Olazábal will be staged between 31 July and 3 August. It will be followed by the DP World Tour Next Championship, which takes place between 7 August and 10 August. But the CAA restrictions will be in place for ten days before the first of the two tournaments begin. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The Balmedie resort is also set to welcome players to its new course come 13 August. Mr Trump is expected to take part in the opening ceremony for the recently constructed links, named after his mother, when he visits. It has already been confirmed Mr Trump will meet Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer while in Aberdeen, while plans are being put in place for the president to meet First Minister John Swinney, according to the Scottish Government. The president will return to the UK in September for his second state visit. Last week, Mr Trump told the BBC the north-east of Scotland - the oil and gas capital of Europe - should "get rid of the windmills and bring back the oil". Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The US president has long been an opponent of wind farms, objecting to a development off the coast of Aberdeen which can be seen from his golf course. There had also been speculation the King would host the American leader in Scotland after Charles suggested the meeting, at Balmoral or Dumfries House, in a letter he wrote to Mr Trump in February inviting him to make the state visit.
