U.S. slashes Sri Lanka tariff to 20%

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The United States has announced that the tariff rate imposed on goods imported from Sri Lanka has been reduced to 20%.

The White House stated that President Donald Trump has signed the relevant Executive Order.

The new Executive Order, signed by the U.S. President, includes tariff adjustments for 40 countries. According to the White House, the order will come into effect seven days after the date of signing. Accordingly, the new U.S. tariffs are scheduled to take effect from August 7, 2025.

Previously, on April 2, 2025, the United States imposed a 44% tariff on imports from Sri Lanka. Following that, as a result of progress in discussions held with the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), Sri Lanka managed to have the tariff reduced to 30%.

In recent days, the Sri Lankan government held several rounds of discussions to further reduce the tariff rate that was scheduled to come into effect today.

The announcement made just a short while ago by the United States to reduce the tariff rate to 20% on Sri Lankan goods is a result of those efforts.