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Trump’s 30% tariff threatens to tear apart Sri Lanka’s garment industry
The US buys about 40 per cent of the country’s apparel exports, helping to pull in US$1.9 billion last year
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Distress is in store for Sri Lanka’s garment sector if the island nation is unable to clinch a tariff lower than the 30 per cent figure US President Donald Trump has clamped on imports from Colombo, a top industry body has warned.
The United States takes about 40 per cent of the country’s apparel exports, helping to pull in US$1.9 billion last year and making the industry Sri Lanka’s third largest earner of foreign exchange, employing 300,000 people, most of them women.
“If this is the end number, Sri Lanka is in trouble because our competitors, such as Vietnam, have received lower tariffs,” said Yohan Lawrence, secretary general of the Joint Apparel Associations Forum (JAAF), which represents the largest apparel companies.
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“But we are hopeful we can continue discussions.”
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In a letter on Wednesday, Trump notified President Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the 30 per cent tariff from August 1, a rate well above the 20 per cent levy faced by competitor Vietnam.
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