Sri Lanka mulls discussions with US on new tariffs

COLOMBO -- The Sri Lankan government is expected to initiate prompt discussions with the US government regarding possible relief measures on the new tariffs, the President's Media Division (PMD) said on Saturday.

A discussion was held between President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the committee appointed to submit recommendations on the new US tariff system, the PMD said in a statement.

During the meeting, the committee's proposals concerning the country's strategic response to the imposition of the new tariffs, as well as the next steps to be taken, were reviewed in detail, the PMD said.

The US government announced recently that it is imposing the so-called "reciprocal tariffs" on trading partners, and Sri Lanka now faces a 44 percent tariff.