How Trump’s tariffs will turbocharge child deaths in Africa

Trump’s tariff blitz – up to 145 per cent on most Chinese imports, with tech-critical goods like non-EV lithium-ion batteries rising to 25 per cent by 2026 – was billed as a blow to Chinese dominance.

But the human cost is being paid here in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where three-quarters of the world’s cobalt – essential for smartphones, wind turbines, and laptops – is dug from the earth by underpaid workers in dangerous, unregulated conditions. Among them are more than 360,000 children.

Donald Trump’s tariffs are having an effect on all parts of the global supply chain. Credit: AP

As a journalist and human rights activist based in eastern DRC, I’ve seen first-hand how families caught between poverty and conflict are driven to mine cobalt simply to survive – risking cave-ins and toxic dust. This humanitarian tragedy is the predictable consequences of a global supply chain built on exploitation and environmental devastation.

Former child miners maimed in cobalt accidents and families of those who died took US tech giants such as Apple and Tesla to court, accusing them of profiting from their suffering. But the case was dismissed last year, and with it, the chance for justice or reform.

And Trump’s tariffs are pouring fuel on the fire.

Even as the US government considers a “minerals-for-security” deal with the DRC, the tariff war is forcing US companies to sidestep Chinese supply chains – turning more directly to Congolese cobalt or funnelling it through Indonesia to conceal its origins.

But neither move will free Americans or the Congolese from China’s grip: a 2023 US congressional hearing revealed that 80 per cent of DRC’s cobalt output is owned or controlled by Chinese companies. In trying to bypass China, US firms are sinking deeper into Chinese-backed extraction networks in Africa.

The irony is brutal: tariffs meant to free the US from one dependency are chaining it to another – one built on exploitation and ecological destruction.

Cobalt mining has scarred vast stretches of the DRC, turning fertile land into toxic wastelands. In Lualaba province, rivers are poisoned by waste spills and chemical run-off that kill fish, render water undrinkable and cause stillbirths, birth defects and many other health impacts.

This environmental damage also intensifies conflict. Scarcity of clean water and arable land ignites tensions between communities, while displacement from degraded terrain deepens existing fault lines. Climate change throws a bomb into the midst of this crisis, and cobalt is the fuse.

Raw cobalt bound for processing at the Etoile mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo.Credit: Bloomberg

What’s happening in Congo is not collateral damage from green innovation – it’s a warning that clean energy cannot come from dirty systems.

The White House may have chosen economic nationalism over ethical responsibility, but history shows us that real change rarely begins in the halls of power. From the anti-apartheid movement to climate justice campaigns, progress has always come from the bottom – from informed citizens, ethical investors, and communities refusing to accept that exploitation is the price of progress.

In my own work with AIDPROFEN and the Education Centre on Democracy and Human Rights, I’ve seen Congolese women demand political representation, and survivors of violence reclaim dignity. But we need global solidarity that recognises how environmental destruction, child labour, and war economies are connected – and confronts them together.

One promising example is Faith For Our Planet (FFOP), an initiative founded by Dr Mohammad Al-Issa of the Muslim World League. FFOP brings together scientists, faith leaders, and activists to frame the climate crisis not just as an environmental issue, but as a human rights and peace-building emergency.

The organisation has held events at COP29 and partnered with the African Union to spotlight how degraded land, poisoned water, and climate-driven displacement are fuelling local tensions across the Global South. Their message was clear: to prevent violence, we must protect the ecosystems people depend on. This is climate justice as conflict prevention: precisely the kind of thinking we need in Congo, and across Africa.

But moral conviction must be matched by hard pressure. Investors must stop funding companies that rely on child labour and ecosystem collapse. Tech giants must be compelled – not politely encouraged – to trace every gram of cobalt back to its source. And consumers, especially in the West, must reject the comforting lie that ethical technology can be bought cheaply.

If we do nothing, the world’s most powerful industry will continue to grow on the backs of the vulnerable – burying justice beneath the very ground it mines.

As Congolese, we are used to being left out of the story. But we will not be silent. What we need is for our voices to be heard and amplified – by a global coalition of citizens committed to a future that values human life over market share.

The world can let exploitation define the tech industry, or it can demand a different path – one where innovation uplifts rather than extracts, and where climate action heals instead of harms.

If we fail to act, Trump’s tech war will not be remembered for what it built, but for what it destroyed.

Passy Mubalama is a Congolese journalist and human rights activist.

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