Sri Lanka among 60 countries facing new US import tariffs

Sri Lanka is among 60 trading partners facing new United States import tariffs ranging from 10 to 12.5 per cent, which are scheduled to take effect on Friday.

The administration of US President Donald Trump will impose the tariffs on countries including Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, the United Kingdom and members of the European Union, according to a notice issued on Thursday by the Office of the US Trade Representative.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the measures were intended to address violations involving forced labour.

Sri Lanka is among 17 trading partners that will face a 10 per cent tariff. The others include Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, and Trinidad and Tobago.

The Trump administration said these countries had committed to adopting and effectively enforcing bans on imports linked to forced labour.

Products from the European Union and Taiwan will also face a 10 per cent tariff.

Another 41 trading partners will face a 12.5 per cent tariff after the administration concluded that they had failed to adopt similar forced-labour import restrictions.

Those countries include Australia, Brazil, China, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, Thailand, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.

The new tariffs follow an investigation launched under Section 301 of the US Trade Act of 1974, which allows Washington to impose trade measures in response to policies or practices it considers unfair.

The affected trading partners account for about 99 per cent of US imports, although exemptions are expected to reduce the overall impact of the measure.

The tariffs will take effect as a temporary 10 per cent global tariff imposed earlier by the Trump administration expires.

Importers often pass tariff costs on to consumers through higher prices, raising concerns that the latest measures could increase the cost of household goods amid renewed inflationary pressures in the United States.

The Yale Budget Lab previously estimated that the temporary global tariff would cost the average US household about 800 dollars during its 150-day duration.

The latest action follows several country- and product-specific tariffs announced by Trump in recent days, including duties on selected Canadian and Brazilian goods.