Bangladesh will again seek duty benefits in US

Bangladesh will again urge the US for duty-free access as the tariff imposed on exports from the country is one the highest faced by goods entering the western nation, according to Senior Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh.

On Saturday, Ghosh told The Daily Star that he would raise this demand at the sixth edition of the Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement (Ticfa).

The two-day annual forum that aims to identify and address obstacles for increasing bilateral trade and investment between the two countries is set to kick off in Dhaka on September 11.

At the Ticfa, the United States Trade Representative (USTR), the chief trade negotiating body of the US, may raise concerns on the condition of labour and intellectual property rights in Bangladesh, among other trade related issues.

At the Ticfa, the United States Trade Representative may raise concerns on the condition of labour and intellectual property rights in Bangladesh

However, the main topic of discussion for Bangladesh will be about securing duty-free access or reduced tariff for exports to the US market, Ghosh added.

Exported goods, particularly garment items, currently face 15.62 per cent duty when shipped to the US.

Ghosh said Bangladesh has already withdrawn the rule requiring double fumigation of US cotton, which was a long-time demand of the American government.

So, Bangladesh will now raise the issue of being granted duty-free access at the Ticfa meeting.

The fifth round of the Ticfa meeting was held in America's Washington in December last year.

The meeting was co-chaired by Christopher Wilson, assistant trade representative of the USTR for south and central Asian affairs, and Tapan Kanti Ghosh, senior secretary of the commerce ministry, according to a statement from the USTR.

Both delegations included officials from trade, labour, agriculture, and other relevant ministries, as per a statement from the USTR.

During the meeting, the US and Bangladesh discussed a range of issues impacting bilateral trade, including market access for agricultural products, labour rights, digital trade policies, intellectual property protection, and policies impacting the investment climate.

The two countries stressed the importance of their strong economic and trade relationship, with the countries having surpassed $10 billion in two-way trade in 2021.

At the fifth Ticfa meeting, the US and Bangladesh made progress in reducing barriers to market access for certain agricultural products. They also discussed ways to further facilitate bilateral trade in food and agricultural products through the use of science and risk-based policies that ensure safe goods.

In addition, both sides affirmed the importance of Bangladesh's efforts to reform its labour laws and discussed the country's interest in restoring its beneficiary status under the generalised system of preferences of the US.

Consistent with the Biden administration's focus on worker-centric trade policies, the US highlighted its priorities in implementing and enforcing labour laws to protect workers' rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining, and to a safe and healthy workplace, the USTR said.

The US emphasised greater alignment between Bangladesh's domestic labour laws and international labour standards, in particular by extending fundamental rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining to the export processing zones and special economic zones.

Bangladesh and the US had signed the Ticfa in November in 2013 to resolve different trade related issues through bilateral discussions.

The global economic slowdown stemming from the Covid-19 fallout and ongoing Russia-Ukraine war reduced merchandise shipments from Bangladesh to the US in the just-concluded fiscal year.

As such, shipments to the country's largest export destination slipped 6.82 per cent to $9.70 billion in fiscal 2022-23 compared to $10.41 billion the year prior, as per data from the Export Promotion Bureau.