Sri Lanka risks losing US$ 1.23bn in EU exports if GSP+ revoked
- CNL Reporter
- April 9, 2025
- News
- GSP
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Sri Lanka could face losses of up to US$ 1.23 billion if it loses its Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) trade benefits with the European Union (EU), a new study by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) showed.
With the absence of the preferential tariff scheme, the report noted that Sri Lanka risks facing a tariff increase from its GSP+ concessions to Most Favoured Nation (MFN) levels, which could potentially result in a loss of 36.7 percent of its exports to the EU.
Titled ‘Who Stands to Lose? The Effects of GSP+ Withdrawal on Sri Lanka’s Exports and Labour Force’ , the study went on to highlight several other economic and labour market consequences for Sri Lanka if its preferential trade access to the EU is revoked.
“The GSP+ preference erosion in the EU-28 market is worrying, as it will dwindle Sri Lanka’s export value while impeding the diversification of its export product basket towards products with high technology content,” the report, authored by IPS Researchers Dr. Asanka Wijesinghe, Chaya Dissanayake and Rashmi Anupama said.
