US assures Bangladesh of considering further cut in 20% tariff

The South Asian country’s trade gap with the United States has already declined to around $6 billion, Bangladesh’s commerce adviser SK Bashir Uddin said after talks with a US delegation in Dhaka.

The delegation was led by deputy assistant US trade representative (USTR) Brendan Lynch.

The discussions focused on the progress made on Bangladesh's commitments to raise imports from the United States as part of efforts to reduce the trade imbalance. The swaps include pledged purchases of agricultural products, energy supplies and aircraft.

"There has been good progress on these commitments, which has been acknowledged by the US side," he was quoted as saying by domestic media reports.

While Dhaka aims to bring the tariff down to 15 per cent, no specific agreement was reached on that rate during the first-day talks, he clarified. Instead, discussions centred on a gradual reduction in tariffs tied to improvements in the trade balance.

A draft trade agreement has already been prepared based on earlier discussions. It will be revised and finalised once consensus is reached on the remaining issues during this round of talks.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (DS)