U.S. President Donald Trump has added Sri Lanka to his growing list of trade targets, issuing a letter on Wednesday announcing a new 30% tariff on all imported goods from Sri Lanka.
The move comes as part of a broader tariff push aimed at multiple countries, with levies set to take effect from August 1, 2025, pending trade negotiations.
According to a copy of the letter posted on Trump’s social-media platform Truth Social, the proposed 30% tariff for Sri Lanka is a reduction from an earlier 44% rate floated in April this year. The same tariff rate will also apply to Algeria, Libya, and Iraq three of seven countries included in Wednesday's wave of trade actions.
In the letter, Trump highlighted the longstanding trade imbalance between the United States and Sri Lanka, claiming the relationship has been "far from reciprocal" due to Sri Lanka’s tariffs, non-tariff policies, and trade barriers. He insisted that the new tariff was necessary to address what he described as persistent trade deficits, which he labeled a threat to U.S. economic interests and national security.
“Starting on August 1, 2025, we will charge Sri Lanka a tariff of only 30% on any and all Sri Lankan products sent into the United States, separate from all sectoral tariffs,” the letter stated, adding that any attempts to bypass the tariff through transshipment would be met with higher penalties.
Trump further offered an incentive, saying Sri Lanka could avoid these tariffs if Sri Lankan businesses chose to manufacture products within the United States, promising expedited approvals for such ventures.
He also warned that should Sri Lanka retaliate by raising its own tariffs, the U.S. would increase the 30% levy by an equivalent amount.
Concluding the letter, Trump expressed hope for a long-term trading partnership but made clear that the tariffs could be adjusted “upward or downward” depending on future relations between the two countries.
This latest announcement marks the seventh such tariff letter unveiled by Trump on Wednesday alone, targeting nations including Algeria, Brunei, the Philippines, Iraq, Libya, and Moldova underscoring an aggressive trade stance as part of his ongoing policy platform.
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