(30 Jul 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Maseru, Lesotho – 22 July 2025
1. Drone shot showing hundreds of unoccupied sewing machines
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Rahila Omar, compliance manager:
++STARTS ON SHOT 3, PARTIALLY COVERED BY SHOTS 3 – 4++
"As soon as the tariffs were announced, we started having some problems with our buyers. We were like on and off. There was no proper, let’s say, we didn’t know where we were standing. So, as soon as the three months suspension came, that’s when we decided that, let’s try to finish the work as soon as possible before the new tariffs are introduced. That’s what we were told. And the work luckily we finished, well, unfortunately, we finished way before time. And that is why now we don’t have any work."
3. Various aerials of sewing machines
4. Wide focus pull of sewing machine in line
5. Wide of lights switching off in material cutting room
6. Various of former textile factory worker Mapontso Mathunya selling snacks and cigarettes as women return to work after their lunch break
7. SOUNDBITE (Sotho) Mapontso Mathunya, former textile factory worker:
++STARTS ON SHOT 6, PARTLY COVERED BY SHOTS 6 AND 8++
“I’m the breadwinner in my family. I have two children that are currently in school. One is in preschool, and another is in primary school, doing grade seven. Life is difficult, it has not been easy ever since I was laid off work. My husband is also struggling, he is in between piece jobs."
8. Close-up of bucket with items Mathunya sells outside factory
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Maseru, Lesotho – 21 July 2025
9. Wide of Lesohto’s Trade Minister Mokhethi Shelile sitting down for interview
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Mokhethi Shelile, Lesotho’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Small Business:
++PARTLY COVERED BY SHOTS 11- 13++
"Lesotho is a very small economy. The trade deficit that exists between Lesotho and the U.S., it’s a natural trade deficit that can happen when you have this type of disparities between two economies. It cannot be bridged and certainly cannot be bridged by imposing tariffs. Because the same tariffs, they are inevitably going to make it difficult for us.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Maseru, Lesotho – 22 July 2025
11. Aerial showing hundreds of sewing machines with no operators
12. Various of woman showing tag on t-shirt reading (English): “Made in Lesotho”
13. Various of aerials showing hundreds of unoccupied sewing machines
STORYLINE:
In the tiny African nation of Lesotho, clothing manufacturer Tzicc’s has dried up in the face of tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump’s administration.
A few months ago, work was steady.
The factory’s 1,300 employees made and exported sportswear to American stores, including JCPenney, Walmart and Costco.
But when Trump announced sweeping new tariffs on nearly all US trading partners in April, Lesotho found itself topping the list, with a rate of 50% — higher even than that of China, where the economy is 8,000 times larger.
Officials here and economic experts said they were baffled.
Since then, Trump backed off — temporarily.
During a months-long pause for trade talks, the US has charged a baseline 10% tariff and announced new rates for dozens of countries starting Friday.
Lesotho’s rate will be set at Trump’s whim, with aides suggesting that tariffs charged on goods from smaller African countries could top 10%.
The damage has already rippled through Lesotho’s economy, where textile manufacturing comprises are the largest private industry with more than 30,000 workers in 2024.
But American buyers stopped placing new orders.
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