COLOMBO, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The recent decision by the United States to impose a hefty 44 percent tariff on imports from Sri Lanka highlights deep-rooted problems in American capitalism, with the impact severe and wide-reaching, according to Sri Lankan economists.

Danusha Gihan Pathirana, an economist at Sri Lanka's Institute of Political Economy, sees these tariffs not as random policy shifts by President Donald Trump, but as symptomatic of fundamental systemic instability within the U.S. economy.

"This is not merely Trump's impulsive tariff policy," Pathirana said. "It stems from systemic instability within American capitalism, traceable to unsustainable fiscal deficits that emerged after the 2008 financial crisis."

The U.S. economy has relied heavily on running massive deficits to sustain domestic demand, a practice that has now become unsustainable. Trump's imposition of these tariffs is a reaction born of this deeper economic dysfunction. "These measures are symptomatic of a broader crisis," he said.

Pathirana said Sri Lanka's export industries, especially the apparel sector, which heavily relies on preferential market access and tax concessions, will be hit hard.

Already burdened by high production costs and low productivity, Sri Lanka's exporters are now at risk of losing orders and potentially relocating production to lower-cost countries, he said.

"Thousands of garment workers, among our most productive workforce, face losing their livelihoods. A coherent, state-led industrial plan is urgently needed to protect these jobs and provide alternative employment," Pathirana said.

Shiran Illanperuma, a researcher at Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, said here that the sudden imposition of tariffs highlights vulnerabilities arising from the country's historical dependence on markets in the Global North, primarily the United States and Europe.

Sri Lanka's trade, he said, has long relied on preferential agreements like the Multi-Fibre Agreement and the European Union's Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP+). This dependency, he said, has left Sri Lanka vulnerable to political shifts in these countries, which are now increasingly protectionist and volatile.

"Sri Lanka must urgently reduce its dependence on these traditional Western markets. Instead, we should integrate deeper into Asia's industrial ecosystem," he said. Enditem

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