Last week, the United States implemented a new set of reciprocal tariffs on imports from dozens of countries around the world. As part of this broader trade realignment, Algeria will face a 30% tariff on its exports to the U.S., one of the highest rates assigned.

While these tariffs are intended to address global trade imbalances, they also present a rare window of diplomatic leverage for the U.S. government to use against Algeria—one that should be constructively wielded to encourage reforms, including the reopening of shuttered churches and the dismissal of criminal charges against Christian pastors. 

The Algerian government’s sustained crackdown on religious minorities—particularly the evangelical Protestant Christian community—has now reached a crisis point.

Between 2017 and 2024, Algerian authorities shut down all but one of the country’s 50 churches affiliated with the Eglise Protestante d’Algérie, Algeria’s main Protestant association, despite the community’s legal registration status dating back to 1974. The government has cited lapsed registration licenses and vague building safety concerns as pretexts for their actions, but in reality, these closures are part of a broader policy to suffocate non-Islamic religious life in Algeria. 

Pastors and church members who continue to meet quietly in homes or lend pastoral support to their building-less flocks now face criminal charges. Pastor Youssef Ourahmane—who has served his community for over 30 years—was recently convicted under Algeria’s restrictive laws on worship and now awaits a ruling from the nation’s Supreme Court on his two-year prison sentence for tending to the needs of his congregation. Other leaders have........

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