Trump hit the small African kingdom of Lesotho with his highest tariff this week at 50%, fueling urgent efforts by the country to seek a deal, and new trade partners.

President Donald Trump has imposed a record 50% tariff on goods from Lesotho, a small African nation heavily reliant on U.S. trade.

Lesotho has a large trade surplus with the United States, mostly made up of diamonds and textiles, including Levi's jeans.

Lesotho's foreign minister has said he was shocked and insulted after U.S. President Donald Trump made this comment in his address to Congress: "Eight million dollars to promote LGBTQI+ in the African nation of Lesotho,

The US has a big trade deficit with Lesotho, which sells textiles – including jeans – and diamonds to America. The 50% rate for Lesotho was part of what Trump described as "reciprocal tariffs" imposed on imports from dozens of countries,

Lesotho, which Trump had ridiculed in March as a country "nobody has ever heard of", is a poor and landlocked country with a gross domestic product of just over $2 billion. It has a large trade surplus with the United States,