Bangladesh achieves significant breakthrough in US trade negotiations

Bangladesh has made a notable advance in deepening its mutually beneficial trade relationship with the United States, paving the way for expanded market access and fresh opportunities for its crucial textile and apparel industry.

At the request of National Security Adviser Dr Khalilur Rahman, who is currently in Washington, DC, US Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer has agreed to take up with President Donald Trump the issue of lowering Bangladesh’s existing 20 percent reciprocal tariff rate to bring it closer to those of regional competitors.

More importantly, according to a press release from the Chief Adviser’s Press Wing, the two sides have crafted an innovative and forward-looking mechanism to support Bangladesh’s export priorities.

Under a proposed preferential arrangement discussed on Thursday by Dr Rahman and Ambassador Greer, Bangladesh would be granted duty-free access to the US market for textile and apparel exports equivalent to its imports of US-produced cotton and man-made fiber textile inputs, calculated on a square-metre basis.

This creative, win-win solution would bolster bilateral trade, support Bangladeshi manufacturers and workers, and strengthen supply-chain linkages with US producers.

The development underscores growing momentum and goodwill in US–Bangladesh economic ties and signals a promising new phase for Bangladesh’s global trade outlook.