Trump's 30% tariff threatens to tear apart Sri Lanka's garment industry
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.
Advertisement
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.
'But we are hopeful we can continue discussions.'
13:08
Why Ceylon tea is inseparable from Sri Lanka and its people
Why Ceylon tea is inseparable from Sri Lanka and its people
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
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
SenseTime, Mengniu join UBTech in wave of Chinese firms tapping capital markets
Chinese companies are stepping up their fundraising activities to shore up liquidity and manage refinancing needs as market sentiment shows signs of recovery in the second half of the year. Advertisement On Thursday, artificial intelligence firm SenseTime unveiled an agreement to raise HK$2.5 billion (US$318 million) through a share subscription, and dairy giant Mengniu Dairy said it would generate 3.5 billion yuan (US$489 million) through a bond issuance. Those plans came to light a day after UBTech Robotics divulged a HK$2.4 billion share placement plan. The financing moves come amid strong momentum in Hong Kong's equity market . Initial public offerings in the city surged 695 per cent year on year in the first half to US$14.1 billion, making it the world's largest IPO market during the period, according to a report released by bourse operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) on Wednesday. 'Investor sentiment has improved markedly,' despite complicated geopolitical tensions, HKEX said, noting that both international institutions and retail investors had shown strong demand for new offerings. Equity fundraising was particularly active in the consumer sector and the technology, media and telecommunications sector, with firms in AI, healthcare and fast-moving consumer goods raising substantial capital to fuel expansion, it said. SenseTime said its conditional subscription agreement with unnamed investors would involve 1.67 billion new shares priced at HK$1.50 apiece, representing a 6.25 per cent discount to its last closing price. The proceeds were expected to support the firm's business development and general corporate use, including ongoing investment in AI infrastructure and research into generative models, as well as new areas such as robotics and digital finance, it said. Advertisement Mengniu, one of China's largest dairy producers, said it would issue two tranches of yuan-denominated bonds: a 2 billion yuan bond maturing in 2030 with a 2 per cent coupon, and a 1.5 billion yuan bond maturing in 2035 with a 2.3 per cent coupon. The company said the proceeds would be used for refinancing existing debt, with an equivalent amount to be allocated to eligible green and social-responsibility projects under its sustainable-financing framework.
RTHK
2 hours ago
- RTHK
Columbia University to pay US$200m in funding deal
Columbia University to pay US$200m in funding deal Columbia University faculty and staff members protest the university' stance in its standoff with the Trump administration in June. File photo: Reuters Columbia University said on Wednesday it will pay US$200 million to the US government after President Donald Trump threatened to pull federal funding over what he said was its unwillingness to protect Jewish students. In a sweeping deal that will restore the prestigious New York institution's federal monies, Columbia has pledged to obey rules that bar it from taking race into consideration in admissions or hiring, among other concessions. "Columbia University has reached an agreement with the United States government to resolve multiple federal agency investigations into alleged violations of federal anti-discrimination laws," it said, adding that the US$200 million would be paid over three years. The university will also pay US$21 million to settle investigations brought by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, it said. "Under today's agreement, a vast majority of the federal grants which were terminated or paused in March 2025 will be reinstated and Columbia's access to billions of dollars in current and future grants will be restored," it said. The promise of the federal funding spigot reopening offers relief for the university, which was under growing financial pressure, despite a comfortable endowment and a reputation it can bank on. The agreement also represents a victory for Trump, who has repeatedly claimed elite universities brainwash students against his nationalist ideas with left-wing bias. Thanking Columbia for "agreeing to do what is right," Trump warned in a social media post that "numerous other Higher Education Institutions that have hurt so many, and been so unfair and unjust... are upcoming." The centuries-old Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is also in a fight with the administration over Trump's threats to rip away federal funding, and Wednesday's carefully worded agreement – in which Columbia admitted no wrongdoing – could offer a framework for future deals. "This agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty," Columbia's acting president Claire Shipman said. "The settlement was carefully crafted to protect the values that define us and allow our essential research partnership with the federal government to get back on track. "Importantly, it safeguards our independence, a critical condition for academic excellence and scholarly exploration, work that is vital to the public interest." Under the settlement, Columbia will maintain a security force to prevent demonstrations in academic spaces, such as those that rocked the campus last year when pro-Palestinian protestors clashed with law enforcement and occupied university buildings. The school also agreed to "promptly provide" federal authorities with any requested information on "disciplinary actions involving student visa-holders resulting in expulsions or suspensions, and arrest records that Columbia is aware of for criminal activity, including trespass or other violation of law." (AFP)
South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
23 Hong Kong kindergartens plan to close by end of school year
At least 23 kindergartens have indicated they will close by the end of the current school year in August, marking a 28 per cent year-on-year increase over 2023-24, education authorities' data shows. The anticipated rise has been linked to the record-low birth rate in 2022, with children born that year set to make up most of the next batch of first-year kindergarteners. The sector has also warned that more closures may follow if the situation fails to improve. The city has already seen a dip in the number of registered births this year, with levels for the first five months dropping by about 6 per cent year on year, despite small upticks in 2023 and 2024. In a reply to the Post, the Education Bureau said that as of June this year, 23 preschools had indicated that they would cease operations in or by the end of the 2024-25 school year. In the first 10 months of 2023-24, 18 kindergartens told authorities that they would close. The tally for that entire school year later reached 29, comprising 17 non-subsidised local kindergartens, eight non-local institutions and four subsidised local preschools.
