As Trump's tariff deadline looms, a clothing factory in the tiny African nation of Lesotho goes dark

Officials and workers in the textile industry of the small African nation of Lesotho are holding their breath as a key deadline for U.S.-imposed tariffs approaches. The country came into the spotlight when it appeared at the top of President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariff list in April. Textile manufacturing is Lesotho's biggest private industry. Although Lesotho's initial tariff rate of 50% has dropped as Trump holds trade talks with various nations, for much of Lesotho the damage is already done. The jobs of some 12,000 workers in factories exporting clothes to the U.S. are at stake. One factory that made clothes for JC Penney, Walmart and Costco is already empty; most of its 1,300 employees are gone. Officials fear this may be a sign of what’s to come.