Washington dc: The United States Trade Representative (USTR), the chief trade negotiation body for the American government, has extended an invitation to Bangladesh to resume the third and final round of tariff negotiations on July 29, as stated by Commerce Secretary Mahbubur Rahman.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, Bangladesh had previously submitted its position paper to the USTR on July 22, proposing July 26 as the date to continue the final round of discussions at the USTR office in Washington DC. Nonetheless, the USTR has set July 29 as the official date for these crucial talks. Commerce Adviser Sk Bashir Uddin is slated to lead the Bangladesh delegation, the commerce secretary confirmed in a phone interview with BSS.
If the meeting is conducted in person, the delegation from Bangladesh is scheduled to depart for the USA on July 27. However, there remains a possibility of the meeting being held virtually. This time, some private sector exporters may accompany the Bangladesh team, although they will not participate directly in the government-to-government negotiation sessions.
The commerce secretary conveyed optimism that the Trump administration might reduce the tariff rate imposed on Bangladesh by the end of the negotiations. Notably, the US government has already lowered tariffs for several countries, offering reductions to 15 percent for Japan, 19 percent for Indonesia, 20 percent for Vietnam, and 19 percent for the Philippines.
Bangladesh has been negotiating effectively with the USTR, and there are expectations that the tariff rate for Bangladesh may also see a significant reduction from the current 35 percent. As part of the discussions, Bangladesh has offered zero-duty import of various US commodities, including cotton, wheat, liquefied natural gas, aircraft, and other agricultural products.
To further bolster imports from the USA, Bangladesh signed an agreement with American wheat suppliers on July 20, agreeing to import 0.7 million tonnes of wheat.