The government is hopeful of receiving some form of concession to the ‘reciprocal tariffs’ announced by US President Donald Trump before July 9, Cabinet Spokesman Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa has said.
Speaking during the weekly Cabinet media spokesman, Minister Jayatissa said based on the intervention made by the present government, they are of the belief, Sri Lanka and local businesses will be able to receive certain benefits before the increased tariff is scheduled to come into effect.
Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa added that Sri Lankan officials have held several rounds of discussions including through ‘Zoom’ to reduce the tariff rate.
US President Donald Trump’s 90-day pause on implementing so-called “reciprocal” tariffs on several trading partners including Sri Lanka ends on July 8.
In April, US President Donald Trump announced a sweeping set of reciprocal tariffs, imposing a baseline 10 per cent tax on all imports and significantly higher rates on dozens of countries with which the US runs trade deficits.
Sri Lanka is facing one of the steepest tariffs among countries amounting 44 per cent.
