The USTR has invited Bangladesh to resume bilateral talks on July 29

The United States Trade Representative (USTR), the chief trade negotiation authority of the U.S. government, has invited Bangladesh to resume the third and final round of tariff negotiations on July 29, Commerce Secretary Mahbubur Rahman confirmed.

Bangladesh had earlier submitted its position paper to the USTR on July 22 and proposed July 26 for the talks to resume at the USTR office in Washington, DC.

However, the USTR has now scheduled the talks for July 29. Commerce Adviser Sk Bashir Uddin will lead the Bangladesh delegation, the secretary told BSS over the phone.

If the meeting is held in person, the delegation will depart for the U.S. on July 27. There is also a chance the meeting may take place virtually, he noted.

Some private-sector exporters may accompany the Bangladesh team, although they will not directly participate in the negotiations, which will follow a government-to-government format.

The secretary expressed optimism that the U.S. administration would agree to reduce tariffs on Bangladeshi goods by the end of the talks, especially as lower rates have already been extended to countries like Japan (15%), Indonesia (19%), Vietnam (20%), and the Philippines (19%).

Bangladesh has made a strong case throughout negotiations and hopes to secure a significantly lower rate than the current 35 percent.

As part of its offer, Bangladesh has proposed zero-duty imports of key U.S. commodities such as cotton, wheat, LNG, aircraft, and agricultural goods.

In a step to boost imports from the U.S., Bangladesh signed an agreement on July 20 to import 0.7 million tonnes of wheat from American suppliers.