Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Colombo, July 4 (Daily Mirror) – The government earlier said a joint statement was to be issued by Sri Lanka and the United States over the reciprocal tariffs but that turned out to be another tall story like most of the stories of the government, SJB MP Dr. Harsha De Silva said.

He said in a post on X that the government had rejected and laughed at the Opposition when they offered to help regarding the matter.

“President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and his government promised the people that they knew what they were doing and not only that they will ensure the stability of the economy, but register strong growth. They said a joint statement was to be issued by the two nations, but that turned out to be another tall story like most of their stories. Yes, there are a few more days and let us give them the benefit of the doubt. But if they don’t deliver, then what? What is plan B and C? Who is leading the strategy on this? Lies won’t do this time,” he said.

“Will Sri Lanka strike a better US tariff deal than Vietnam? When I questioned in Parliament as to the current status of the tariff negotiations with the US, Minister Anil Jayantha boasted that Sri Lanka is the only country in Asia negotiating a deal with the US ahead of the July 9 deadline and said a major progress and positive results are expected.  However, Vietnam already did a deal this week to bring down their 46% reciprocal tariff to 20% and India is working round the clock to finalise a deal including some HS codes to come down to zero. Thereafter, they are planning on a comprehensive trade deal later this year,” the MP said.