According to the Lesotho Times report on November 2, US Ambassador to Lesotho Brewer encouraged the people of Lesotho to use the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) to explore duty-free exports of other goods to the US market to To mitigate the economic downturn caused by reduced production in the textile and apparel industry.
The main reason for the decline in textile production in Lesotho is a lack of orders from US buyers, so factories have to lay off workers or temporarily lay off workers. AGOA provides duty-free access to the U.S. market for goods from eligible sub-Saharan African countries, with the goal of promoting economic growth through good governance and free markets. AGOA was first promulgated in 2000 and will expire in 2025 after several extensions. Lesotho began using AGOA to export textiles to the United States in 2001. Lesotho’s textile industry is currently the second largest employment sector after the government sector, employing 46,000 workers at its peak. However, since 2020, 22,000 workers have been forced to leave their jobs due to the epidemic. Brewer said AGOA regulates 6,800 commodities that beneficiary countries can export to the U.S. market duty-free. To this end, beneficiary countries must uphold the so-called core values of a free and fair society advocated by the United States, including the rule of law, respect for human rights, combating corruption, and labor protection. Biden said this week that the United States plans to cancel the AGOA beneficiary status of Central African countries, Gabon, Niger, Uganda and other countries due to concerns about coups, democracy and human rights. Brewer added: “The Biden administration fully supports Congress in reauthorizing AGOA and will work closely with Congress to ensure that this impactful legislation remains relevant.” Economist Likhang said in an interview that Lesotho needs to establish A more export-oriented production economy. For example, Lesotho can actively look for agricultural product processing opportunities and explore the development of service outsourcing.
Although industry associations blame the collapse of the textile industry on the scarcity of orders from US buyers, Lesotho’s Ministry of Trade and Industry pointed out that the local textile industry is gradually declining due to a lack of price competitiveness. Losing the international market, buyers decided to shift operations to other, lower-cost origins. </p
