Bilateral treaty only means to readjust domestic tariffs for US

Government revenue authorities find limited scope to satisfy the Trump administration by reducing tariffs for US imports unless Bangladesh goes for bilateral treaty -- the only byway to skip set world trade rules.

Though import duty on 110 products has been waived in the current fiscal year's budget, the step could not make the US government happy to reconsider a major cut in its previously declared 37-percent tariffs.

However, officials of the revenue board say the customs authority has started a second-round review of the US imports to further cut the taxes.

However, the waiver cannot be reciprocal to only US under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules where the tax cut cannot be country-specific.

Commerce Secretary Mahbubur Rahman, who flew Tuesday to join USTR negotiation in Washington, said the list of 110 products with zero-rated duty was sent to the US government earlier, "but it leaves no impact on tariff aspects".

"We are now moving to negotiate in line with the article 24 of the WTO that allows economic partnership between two countries," he said about a byway left open.

The Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) is found preferences of the US administration which Bangladesh is going to pursue in the two-day discussion on July 10-11, 2025, he added.

The duty-free access, given in the current fiscal budget, implies on all countries as per MFN tariff rules of the WTO, he mentioned, pointing to the major reason why the US government was not convinced with this.

An MFN or Most Favored Nation tariff, within the framework of the WTO, is the standard tariff rate a country applies to imports from all other WTO-member nations, unless a preferential trade agreement exists.

"There are some non-tariff barriers such as Intellectual Property Right (IPR) issues that we have open to implement as we cannot continue the patent facility after LDC graduation in 2026," he said.

Dr Zaidi Sattar, Chairman of the Policy Research Institute (PRI), suggests the government should proceed with free-trade agreement (FTA) proposals to the US government to secure duty benefit.

"USTR wants Bangladesh to open up our trade regime. They found our tariff structure complex and non-transparent," he says.

Experts having in-depth knowledge on tariff issues can be engaged in the negotiation, he adds.

Customs officials say they have started scrutinizing US import goods over again by sorting out the list for last two financial years.

However, they find limited scope to make any significant breakthrough by reducing import taxes unless the government takes step to increase imports from the US.

Economists and trade experts, however, have found existing complex tariff structure a major barrier to convincing the Trump administration.

However, business leaders have found the government's step to negotiate with the US government having not followed the proper path.

Syed Ershad Ahmed, President of the American Chamber of Commerce, Bangladesh, says the government's negotiation process did not tread the right path.

An intensive study paper must have been prepared within the three- month timeline to pursue Trump administration, he says.

"There are several non-tariff barriers that US government prioritizes, such as implementation of intellectual property right (IPR), food safety etc," he adds.

The major imports from the US include scraps, liquefied natural gas (LNG), car, Boeing planes, and nuts.

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