Economy

Trump settles for 30% tariff on Sri Lanka, down from 44% proposed earlier

Published

4 months ago

July 10, 2025

US President Donald Trump has settled for a 30% tariff on imports from Sri Lanka, down from 44% proposed in April.

He announced the move in a letter to President Anura Kumara Disanayake dated 9 July 2025.

Analysts welcomed the move, which is lower than the tariff slapped on Laos and Myanmar (40%), Cambodia, Thailand (36%), Bangladesh (35%), and Indonesia (32%). However, others described it as higher than what Sri Lanka was lobbying for, which was 20%.

Japan, Malaysia, and the Philippines have been slapped with a 25% tariff.

The US remains the largest export market for Sri Lanka, accounting for 27% ($ 3 billion) of the total manufactured exports ($ 12.8 billion) as of 2024—out of which textile and apparel exports accounted for 64% of the total exports

to the US.

The reciprocal action by Trump was due to the trade imbalance of $ 2.6 billion in 2024 in favour of Sri Lanka as against the US.

Treasury Secretary Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma earlier this week expressed hope that Sri Lanka could expect a favourable stance from the US on the looming reciprocal tariffs.

“We had several rounds of discussions with the US Trade Representative (USTR). They’ve indicated Sri Lanka is in a relatively better position, but at the end of the day, the decision will factor in the broader global trade scenario,” he told journalists. “Our hope is that given our proactive engagement, multiple discussion rounds, and overall cooperation with the USTR, Sri Lanka will get a positive stance,” Dr. Suriyapperuma reiterated.

Economy

Sri lanka’s domestic exports rise by 5.2%

Published

1 day ago

November 6, 2025

admin

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) reports that domestic exports of goods and materials have grown by 5.2% during the first nine months of this year, compared to the same period in 2024.

According to official data, export earnings for the period reached US$ 10,215.1 million, up from US$ 9,518.1 million recorded last year.

The increase reflects a steady improvement in the country’s export performance, supported by higher demand and stronger production across key sectors.

Economy

SriLankan Airlines group loses Rs10.7bn in three months, operating losses up

Published

4 days ago

November 3, 2025

admin

State-run SriLankan Airlines group has lost 10.7 billion rupees in the three months to June 2025, down from 12.9 billion rupees last year but operating losses had widened, despite improvement in traffic, a Finance Ministry report said.

SriLankan had posted revenues of 51.7 billion rupees, up 1.5 billion rupees in the June quarter, helped by high higher traffic volumes and a big improvement in load factor to 82.3 percent a from 74.8 last year.

The airline had carried more than one million passengers across 3,217 flights during the quarter, with traffic growing 23 percent, the report said.

But cargo revenue had declined 13 percent to 7.1 billion rupees, and other revenues had also fallen, bringing net traffic revenues to 62.7 billion rupees, down from 63.8 billion rupees last year.SriLankan Airlines group loses Rs10.7bn in three months, operating losses up

Economy

Sri Lanka is the second most expensive country in South Asia to live in

Published

5 days ago

November 2, 2025

admin

Sri Lanka is the second most expensive South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) country to live with cost of living for an individual being $506 or Rs. 153,899 excluding rent to live a comfortable life according to Numbeo, a user-generated cost-of-living statistics website.

According to the website for a family of four living in the city of Colombo, the monthly costs are Rs. 570,997 excluding rent to live comfortably. This includes the cost of childcare, groceries, outings, dining, school fees, house expenses, vehicle expenses etc.

Numbeo is the world’s largest cost of living database and a crowd sourced global resource for quality of life data. It provides insights into cost of living. According to the site Maldives is considered the most expensive SAARC country to live in comfortably with a cost of $840.4 per person.

Source – Dailymirror