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Bangladesh has sought a time frame for resuming the third round of talks on new US tariff with the United States Trade Representative (USTR), sources said.
Dhaka was supposed to send its position paper (Bangladesh position) to the US administration concerned on Tuesday night regarding the tariff issues and proposed negotiations, they added. When contacted, Commerce Secretary Mahbubur Rahman said: "We have requested the US administration to give us a time slot to resume the third round of negotiations on the US tariff issue."
He also expressed his optimism about visiting the US next week with a view to resuming the negotiations with an aim to reduce the tariff rate on Bangladeshi products in the US market, provided the US gives its green signal.
A high-power Bangladesh delegation, headed by Commerce Adviser to the interim government, is expected to visit the country after getting a schedule from the USTR.
It is expected to take place within the next few days, he said.
However, the commerce secretary and senior officials concerned declined to go into details on the Bangladesh's position paper regarding the US tariff issues.
Bangladesh is considering giving more duty exemption or zero duty facility on products that are imported from the US with a view to increasing bilateral trade between two nations, officials said.
Currently, the commerce ministry is actively engaged with the Bangladesh's businesses, economists, and relevant government agencies, for getting necessary suggestions and opinions ahead of the third round of negotiations with USTR on the proposed trade agreement on the reciprocal tariff imposed by the US administration.
The ministry has already sat with the US Wheat Associates (USW), Chevron and Excelerate Energy, officials said, adding that the ministry also held meeting with U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) and US cotton Association.
Besides, it was to sit with the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) on Tuesday, they mentioned.
In a bid to secure a favourable tariff deal with the US authorities, the government is trying to lessen its trade gap with the US by enhancing imports of aircraft parts, edible oil, cotton, liquefied natural gas (LNG), etc., in addition to wheat.
Keeping this in view, part of this move, more than 100 products have been added to the list in the budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year, which would benefit the US and other countries.
Bangladesh has already kept its tariff rate on 190 products at zero level to help reduce its trade deficit with the United States.
Bangladesh also inked a deal to import of 0.7 million tonnes of wheat from US within next five years, of which 0.220 million tonnes would be imported in the first year.
Currently, Bangladesh imposes an average of 6.0 per cent duty on products imported from the United States.
On July 07 last, the Trump administration declared a plan to impose 35-percent tariff on products exported to the US market from Bangladesh, beginning August 01, 2025.
To this end, US President Donald J Trump sent a letter to the Chief Adviser of the Bangladesh interim government, Muhammad Yunus.
The new tariff is 2.0-percent lower than the initially declared rate of 37 per cent, issued three months ago, dated April 02 last. It was supposed to take effect from April 09.
The National Security Adviser and the Commerce Adviser of Bangladesh had already sat with the USTR representatives on July 03. The meeting ended sans any positive outcomes.
In the meantime, various countries have completed necessary processes of signing bilateral agreements with the United States through negotiations.
Bangladesh is also trying to strike a bilateral agreement, officials said.
Keeping this in view, a delegation led by the Commerce Adviser held several meetings with the USTR.
However, Bangladesh and the US could not reach consensus to all the issues during the previous talks.
The third and final day of the second round of negotiations on the tariff issue between Bangladesh and the US concluded on July 11, 2025.
However, several issues remain unresolved in the tariff talks, sources said, adding that both nations decided to continue inter-ministerial discussions.
According to the National Board of Revenue (NBR), Bangladesh exported goods worth $8.76 billion to the United States in the fiscal year 2024-25, which ended in June.
In the fiscal year 2023-24, goods worth $7.68 billion were exported to the US.
On the other hand, Bangladesh imported goods worth U$2.5 billion from the USA in the fiscal year 2024-25.
However, a year ago, in the fiscal year 2023-24, it imported goods worth $2.62 billion.
The largest single product imported from the United States is scrap iron or iron pieces while, the largest single product exported to the US is ready-made garments.
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