Sri Lanka hopeful of removing new tax proposed by U.S.: Minister

Colombo, June 6 (Daily Mirror) - In the wake of the United States' proposed additional duties on Sri Lanka, Deputy Minister of Finance Anil Jayantha said yesterday that Sri Lanka has been in discussion with the United States on matters involving forced labour and that Sri Lanka will be able to remove the proposed duty as necessary measures are being taken to prevent any use of forced labour in the supply chain.

The Deputy Minister said that a committee headed by the Trade Ministry secretary was appointed to look into the matter several months ago and that several rounds of discussions have been held so far.

"Two more discussions have been scheduled for next Monday and Tuesday as well,' he said.

The Minister said the additional duty of 12.5 per cent was proposed on Sri Lanka as initial investigations by the US authorities have found that Sri Lanka uses materials imported from countries where forced labour is used in the supply chain.

He said Sri Lanka is against the use of forced labour and that laws will be amended to prevent any use of forced labour, and added that additional duties could be removed after ensuring that no forced labour is used in the supply chain.

Referring to the discussions on reciprocal tariff, the Deputy Minister said Sri Lanka is having discussions with the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and that Sri Lanka will reach the final agreement on the trade gap with the United States soon.