Sri Lanka, April 3 -- Sri Lanka's Minister of Labour and Deputy Minister of Economic Development Dr. Anil Jayantha Fernando says that Sri Lanka will hold talks and negotiate the new trade tariffs imposed by the United States on the country's exports before April 09.

Issuing a clarification on the 44% trade tariffs imposed on Sri Lanka as part of US President Donald Trump's decision to impose reciprocal tariffs with a baseline 10% tax on all imports and significantly higher rates on dozens of countries, the Minister stated that the government had prior knowledge of the situation, but awaited the US policy decision before taking action.

"We were aware of the situation.but a country cannot go into another country and pressure their policy ...