If you have ever bought a pair of jeans from an American brand like Levi’s or Wrangler, chances are they were manufactured at a factory in the small southern African nation of Lesotho. Textile manufacturing is one of Lesotho’s key industries, exporting some 75% of its output to the United States. This is expected to change after U.S. President Donald Trump slapped a 50% tariff on imports from Lesotho, the highest among all countries. According to Trump, Lesotho charges a 99% tariff on U.S. goods, but the government said it doesn’t know how the U.S. administration calculated that figure. Government officials did not say Thursday what Lesotho’s tariffs on U.S. goods are.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.

President Trump announced this afternoon that he is extending the deadline for the sale of the Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok by 75 more days.
The move came shortly after China responded to Trump’s sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs with its own set of retaliatory duties, pushing back against the administration’s offer of reduced rates if Beijing agreed to divest from the app.
“My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress. The Deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed, which is why I am signing an Executive Order to keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu said he is suing Yair Golan—who leads The Democrats Party—for defamation, demanding 320,000 shekels ($86,500) in compensation.
The suit filed by Netanyahu’s lawyers, which also demands that Golan refrain from spreading further slander, came in response to March 31 remarks in which the left-wing leader had said that the premier should “be investigated on the suspicion that he sold Israel’s security for profit.
“He should be probed for the fact that the money that funded Hamas and the October [7, 2023] massacre reached the top levels of his office—and possibly even him,” Golan added, in reference to the recent arrest of two of Netanyahu’s aides on suspicion of illegal dealings with Qatar.

Former NBA star Amar’e Yehoshafat Stoudemire, who completed his geirus several years ago, celebrated his wedding last night.
The simcha was attended by close friends and family, marking a significant milestone in Stoudemire’s personal journey.
Stoudemire, known for his illustrious basketball career with the Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks, long expressed a deep connection to Yiddishkeit. He began exploring his roots in 2010 after learning about his family’s heritage from his mother. This exploration led him to visit Eretz Yisroel and eventually undergo a formal conversion process. In 2020, he completed his geirus, adopting the Hebrew name Yehoshafat Ben Avraham.

The Trump administration’s expansive new tariffs will likely lead to higher inflation and slower growth, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Friday. Powell said that the tariffs, and their likely impacts on the economy and inflation, are “significantly larger than expected.” He also said that the import taxes are “highly likely” to lead to “at least a temporary rise in inflation,” but added that “it is also possible that the effects could be more persistent.” “Our obligation is to … make certain that a one-time increase in the price level does not become an ongoing inflation problem,” Powell said in remarks delivered in Arlington, Virginia. Powell’s focus on inflation suggests that the Fed will likely keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at about 4.3% in the coming months.

Wall Street braced for another punishing session Friday as stocks took a nosedive following China’s announcement of steep counter-tariffs, intensifying fears of an all-out global trade war in response to President Trump’s recently announced “Liberation Day” levies.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled nearly 1,000 points within minutes of the market opening, coming on the heels of Thursday’s staggering 1,679-point plunge—the worst single-day performance since the early days of the COVID-19 crisis in 2020.
Technology stocks also faced a massive selloff, with the Nasdaq slumping roughly 500 points, or 2.3%, at the open. The S&P 500 wasn’t far behind, shedding about 130 points, a 2.4% decline.

China declared on Friday that it will be introducing a new set of tariffs and restrictions targeting American products, in direct retaliation to the broad tariffs recently levied by U.S. President Donald Trump.
According to the Chinese Finance Ministry, starting April 10, all imports from the United States will be subject to an additional 34% tariff.
In another move escalating trade tensions, China revealed it will restrict the export of several medium and heavy rare-earth elements to the U.S., with the new regulations going into effect on April 4. These include samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium, and yttrium.

ARLINGTON, Va.