The 44% US trade tariff on Sri Lanka is not just a trade issue, but a wake-up call to stop the silent defiance of regional interests of other nations and protect mutual interest, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa said.

Posting on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) regarding the matter, Premadasa stated that those who are now in government, in the past blocked every trade deal, distrusted globalisation, and saw investment as intrusion, and stressed that this legacy must end and that they have to switch up their stance.

Furthermore, the Opposition Leader called on Sri Lanka to have a strategic reset by embracing partnerships over paranoia, stop the hate-mongering for the sake of appeasing some local cartels, build an Asia-centric trade strategy with India, ASEAN and Bangladesh, and to shift from tariffs to production-led, investor-friendly growth.

“And above all, we must stop the silent defiance of regional interests of other nations. Protecting mutual interests is the only way forward. Posturing is not a strategy. Mature nations negotiate. It’s time we did too,” Premadasa noted.

On Wednesday (2), US President Donald Trump announced a sweeping set of reciprocal tariffs, imposing a baseline 10% tax on all imports and significantly higher rates on dozens of countries with which the US runs trade deficits.

As a result, Sri Lanka now faces the sixth highest tariff rates in the world- 44%, a sharp increase from the previous 12.2% tariff rate.