Lesotho Declares State of Disaster After U.S. Tariffs. Rescissions Impact U.N.

0:00Today on State of the World, U.S.Tariffs push the tiny mountain kingdom of Lesotho to declare a state of disaster. And Congress pulls funding from some U.N. agencies with global consequences. You're listening to State of the World from NPR, the day's most vital international stories up close where they are happening. It's Wednesday, July 23rd. I'm Christine Aerosmith. In a moment, we'll hear about how the so-called rescission legislation approved by Congress could impact future funding for the UN. First, to the southern African nation of Lesotho, once known as the denim capital of the continent.

0:48Lesotho's large textile industry produces garments for U.S. brands such as Levi and Walmart. But after President Trump slapped 50 % tariffs on the country earlier this year, some of the highest in the world, orders started drying up, factories started closing, and thousands lost their jobs. Now the government of this tiny mountain kingdom has declared a two-year national state of disaster. Reporter Kate Bartlett has the story. It's a chilly winter's evening and workers who've just finished their shifts are streaming out of Precious Garments Factory as minibus taxi touts jostle for passengers heading home I asked one worker, 48-year-old Mabitumelo Ramakatani who's wrapped in a blanket against the cold what she spent the day sewing In our factory we are doing the quality t-shirts that even President Trump's wear But she's worried she might not be making them much longer.

1:52In the wake of President Trump's tariff announcement in April, many factories here have already closed entirely. And while Rama Katane still has some orders, she's been put on what people here call short time, working half the month for half the money, about 80 US dollars. There are those who went for short time because there is no work. and then we have told that on September there will be no work total at my federal. Trump announced 50 % tariffs on Lesotho in April, pointing to a trade deficit with the US. Since then, everyone here has been holding their breath as the Lesotho government desperately tries to negotiate.

2:37The globe has been shaken. As we speak, multilateralism seems to be something that we are walking away from. Trade Minister Mokhedi Shilele says yes, there is a trade deficit because Lesotho can't afford much of what the US produces. But he argues the relationship still benefits both countries. For example, he notes, Lesotho has just given Elon Musk's Starlink satellite service a license to operate here. We are a very small nation that has had a long-standing relation with the United States of America. And hopefully this relationship will continue to get stronger, even under these trying times.

3:20However, he says, even if Trump changes his mind, it might be too late, for the job's already lost. Resolet Sishwe Moshweshwe manages a Maseru factory that exports to Walmart. He said even though they were paused, the effect of Trump's tariffs announcement was immediate. His factory has been closed for a few weeks now and all the workers have been sent home. We cannot get raw material, we cannot export. Orders are being stopped because everybody doesn't know what's going to happen. People who are supplying us with orders were scared. The trade minister says while 12 ,000 direct factory jobs are going to be lost, the knock-on effects on other industries that support the garment workers means 40 ,000 people will be out of work.

4:08All this in a country where youth unemployment was already close to 50%. Outside the Levi's factory in Maseru, a small market survives of garment worker wages. Barely. This cobbler, Tumela Rakoti, says he was already suffering because factory workers can't afford to bring their shoes for repair 19-year-old Insati Hekwa, who sells a deep-fried bread called Fedcook says her tuck shop business was also affected by the garment workers' purse tightening So if you could give a message to President Trump, what would you say? I would say President Donald Trump If only you know how many of us depends on Americans, can we offer him something so that he can stop whatever he's doing?

5:03Most garment workers here are women, many single mothers, living with HIV in a country with some of the highest infection rates in the world. These jobs gave them independence and dignity. Now with factories closing, that hard-won progress is slipping away and their futures hang in the balance. Rama Katane, who makes Trump-branded golf shirts, says the work was hard at first. When I started, it was hard work, but now it's my work. I do it perfectly. I'm proud of my work. It supported my family. Now, facing the loss of that job, she says there's only one thing left to do. prayed. We are on our knees.

5:47We are on our knees. Now our hope is only to God to change Donald Trump's mind. For NPR News, I'm Kate Bartlett in Masaru.

6:00Now, a story about the international ramifications of the rescission package approved by Congress. About a billion dollars meant for the United Nations is now being clawed back. U.N. peacekeeping operations and the U.N. Children's Fund, or UNICEF, are among the impacted programs. NPR's Michelle Kellerman has this report. President Trump often talks about his peacemaking prowess, and he points to a deal that he says will end 30 years of conflict between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. But that deal depends in part on a United Nations peacekeeping operation, the same one that's cited in the rescission package.

6:44The UN peacekeeping mission is incredibly important to implementation of this deal. Peter Yeo is president of the Better World campaign, which advocates on behalf of the UN. The rescissions package will really undermine a core way that President Trump's peace deal is going to be implemented. So I think the administration and Congress are going to have to sort their way through on that one. The U.S. covers about a quarter of all U.N. peacekeeping operations around the globe, with more than a billion dollars a year. Now the U.S. is clawing back$361 million, at a time when U.N. mandates remain the same.

7:23One U.N. peacekeeping official told NPR that this could mean sending some peacekeeping units home. Another U.N. agency facing cutbacks is the U.N.'s Children's Fund, or UNICEF, which is led by an American and has traditionally had bipartisan support. Democrats tried to remove these cuts from the rescission package, but Eric Schmidt, a Republican senator from Missouri, successfully led opposition to that amendment on the floor of the Senate this week. UNICEF's mission, although admirable, is not immune from waste, fraud, and abuse. That's why this rescission package includes$142 million for UNICEF's overhead.

8:00UNICEF says the canceled funding was not used for overhead expenses, but was instead what it calls critical and flexible funding. Peter Yeo says flexible funds allow the agency to move quickly to help children caught up in conflicts or natural disasters. I wouldn't be surprised if this is not the last word as it relates to American funding to UNICEF, but it's a pretty devastating blow. The UN's Refugee Agency says it's still too early to tell how these cuts might affect its work. Reema Jamoush, the Middle East Regional Director for UNHCR, came to Washington this past week to tell U.S. officials there's a rare chance to resolve a refugee crisis in Syria as that country emerges from a civil war.

8:46This is incredibly unique for UNHCR to see a solution on the horizon and for people to be able to go from being refugees to repatriated back in their home countries is quite a unique, once-in-a-generation type of opportunity, and we intend to make full use of it. But she says UNHCR has faced cutbacks, not just from the U.S., but also from other big donors who are following America's lead in scaling back humanitarian aid in favor of defense. And unfortunately, we've had to reduce our workforce in the order of about 30 percent. So right when we need to be scaling up, mobilizing support to help people realize this critical solution, we've had to dramatically cut our own staff.

9:29Trump's rescission package does not single out UNHCR, but it pulls$800 million from a more than$3 billion State Department fund that supports groups helping refugees overseas. Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, the State Department. That's the State of the World from NPR. Thanks for listening.