Sri Lanka, April 3 -- The higher trade tariffs imposed by the United States on Sri Lanka can put a significant number of jobs in the country's apparel industry at risk in the near future, warns Professor Wasantha Athukorala from the Department of Economics and Statistics at the University of Peradeniya.

On Wednesday, 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 6th highest tariff rates in the world-44%, a sharp increase from the previous 12.2% tariff rate.

Currently, 25% of Sri Lanka's total exports-primarily apparel-are destined for the...