Sri Lanka, April 3 -- United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a sweeping set of reciprocal tariffs, imposing a baseline 10 per cent tax on all imports and significantly higher rates on dozens of countries with which the US runs trade deficits.

In a statement delivered from the White House Rose Garden, Trump described the measure as a "declaration of economic independence" and vowed to boost domestic production by levelling the playing field with foreign competitors.

The new tariff structure introduces a 10 per cent flat rate on all imports and applies higher rates to several major trading partners. At 49 per cent, Cambodia faces the steepest tariff, followed closely by Vietnam at 46 per cent, Sri Lanka at 44 per cent...