U.S. imposes 30% tariff on Sri Lankan goods

U.S. President Donald J. Trump has sent an official letter to Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake announcing the introduction of a 30% tariff on all Sri Lankan products entering the U.S., effective August 1, 2025.

In the letter, dated July 9, 2025, and issued from the White House, President Trump emphasized that the new tariffs are part of a push for a more “balanced, and fair, TRADE” relationship between the two countries.

He stated that although the U.S. continues to face a “significant Trade Deficit” with Sri Lanka, it has chosen to move forward with the partnership, albeit under stricter trade terms.

“We must move away from these long-term, and very persistent, Trade Deficits experienced by Sri Lanka,” President Trump wrote. “Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers. Our relationship has been, unfortunately, far from Reciprocal.”

The 30% tariff will apply to all Sri Lankan products exported to the U.S., in addition to any existing sector-specific tariffs.

Trump warned that any attempts to bypass these duties, such as transshipping goods through other countries, would be penalized at a higher rate: “Goods transshipped to evade a higher Tariff will be subject to that higher Tariff.”

Importantly, the letter offers a pathway to tariff exemption. President Trump noted that Sri Lankan companies manufacturing goods within the U.S. would not be subject to the new tariffs. He pledged fast and professional approval processes for such investments, promising clearances “quickly, professionally, and routinely — in other words, in a matter of weeks.”

The letter also included a warning: if Sri Lanka raises its own tariffs in response, the U.S. will match that increase. “If for any reason you decide to raise your Tariffs, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added onto the 30% that we charge,” Trump wrote.

President Trump described Sri Lanka’s trade policies as a “major threat to our Economy and, indeed, our National Security!”

He urged Sri Lanka to eliminate its “Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers” and to open its markets to American products.

“If you wish to open your heretofore closed Trading Markets to the United States, and eliminate your Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers, we will, perhaps, consider an adjustment to this letter,” he added.

The communication concludes with a promise to continue the trading relationship “for many years to come” and a reaffirmation of the U.S.’s position as “The Number One Market in the World, by far.”

The Sri Lankan government has not yet officially responded to the letter.

This development marks a significant shift in U.S.–Sri Lanka trade relations, signaling stricter U.S. enforcement and a push for reciprocal market access under the Trump administration’s “America First” trade agenda.