Withdraw anti-dumping duty on hydrogen peroxide: Commerce minister to Pakistan

Bangladesh Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi today demanded that Pakistan withdraws the anti-dumping duty on export of hydrogen peroxide for greater bilateral trade between the two countries.

Imposing anti-dumping duty on any product acts as a deterrent in increasing bilateral trade, the minister said and urged for forging bilateral trade dialogues under the Joint Economic Commission (JEC) to remove trade barriers to boost trade between the two countries.

The minister said local exporters have been shipping a lot of tea, pharmaceuticals, ready-made garment items, shoes, leather and leather goods and jute and jute goods to Pakistan as the demand of those Bangladeshi-made goods is high in Pakistan, according to a statement from the commerce ministry.

The removal of trade barriers can unlock the great business potential between the two countries, the minister said at a meeting at his secretariat office in Dhaka when Imran Ahmed Siddiqui, Pakistani high commissioner in Bangladesh called on the commerce minister.

The high commissioner said different Pakistani government offices use Bangladeshi-made ceramic items. However, the Pakistani envoy also said there is a lot of demand for Bangladeshi-made garment items, pharmaceuticals, leather and leather goods and jute and jute goods in Pakistan.

So, the trade barriers should be removed through discussion to increase the bilateral trade between the two countries, he said.

Siddiqui also suggested holding a single-country fair of Bangladeshi goods in Pakistan for wider knowledge of the Bangladeshi products in Pakistan.

He also emphasised on holding the ninth JEC between Bangladesh and Pakistan.

In the 2019-20 fiscal year, Bangladesh exported goods worth $50.54million and imported goods worth $543.90million from Pakistan, according to data from the commerce ministry.