Price hikes shouldn’t be the order of the day

Soon after US President Donald Trump announced a 30% tariff on Sri Lankan exports with effect from August 1, the price of imported milk powder increased. Milk powder is an essential item in any household especially if there are infants who need to be fed. In a backdrop where people cannot afford to purchase basic meals that are essential for children, the recent decision affects their ability to purchase milk powder as well. Sri Lankans have experience with a previous government having to opt for price hikes of essential items due to economic mismanagement. Already, opposition factions argue that the government could have resolved this in a practical manner had they conducted timely negotiations with US. Even though the government did announce that it held vital discussions on reciprocal tariffs which were imposed earlier this year, nothing seems to have come out of those discussions. Recently,  it was revealed that certain countries have already inked trade agreements with the US so that the tariffs wouldn’t affect their trade. But Sri Lanka seems to be lagging behind when initiating these discussions. Economists have already explained the impact of these tariffs on Sri Lanka’s trade competitiveness with other nations such as Vietnam and India. Therefore the government still has enough opportunities to set things straight and ensure that the common man wouldn’t be affected by global decisions of this nature.

Mala Ranasinghe

Delkanda