Sri Lanka, April 18 -- On 2 April 2025, the United States introduced a two-tier tariff regime comprising a 10 per cent universal baseline tariff and elevated country-specific tariffs of up to 50 per cent, targeting 57 countries-including many in the Asia-Pacific-with limited exemptions. Although the country-specific tariffs were suspended on 9 April for all but China, policy uncertainty remains. Subsequent signals have been mixed: while product exemptions were expanded to include certain electronics, the U.S. also launched new Section 232 investigations into imports of semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. These developments suggest the potential for further unilateral trade actions and underscore the persistent uncertainty in the global trad...