Commerce adviser Sk Bashir Uddin on Monday said that the third round of negotiations with the United States over tariff issues was likely to start next week.
鈥榃e are expecting a schedule from the US for the next week,鈥� he said at a press briefing at the secretariat in the capital Dhaka after a meeting with businesses.
The same team that took part in the second round of negotiations with the United States Trade Representative in July 9-11 would fly to Washington for the third round of talks, said the commerce adviser one day after arriving in the country from the US capital after leading the second round of talks.
Dhaka has been negotiating with the USTR, responsible for developing and promoting US foreign trade policies, for lowering the tariff rate since the US president Donald Trump announced 37 per cent 鈥榬eciprocal鈥� tariff on Bangladeshi exports goods on April 3.
But on April 9, the US president declared a pause on the tariff for three months and after the pause, Bangladesh had held the first round of negotiations with the US over the tariff rate.
On July 8, the US announced the tariff line at 35 per cent to be made effective from August 1 on top of the sectoral tariffs.
Terming the second round of negotiations encouraging, the commerce adviser said that they could convince the US to bring down the tariff rate to a logical level.
Asked what barriers prevented the two trading partners from reaching a consensus on the tariff issue, Bashir said that he could not reveal those because of signing a non-disclosure agreement with the US in this regard.
He also did not make any comment on the statement by energy adviser Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan that the US had initially wanted a framework agreement with Bangladesh, which included various issues, including the US security concerns.
Earlier, commerce secretary Mahbubur Rahman, who was also present at the press briefing, said that the US tariff rate would deal a huge blow to the country鈥檚 exporters as the US was the single largest export destination for Bangladesh.
In 2024, Bangladesh exported to the US goods worth about $8.4 billion, of which $7.34 billion accounted for readymade garments. In the year, the country imported US goods worth $2.2 billion.
Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association president Mohammad Hatem said that they were satisfied with the outcomes of the government鈥檚 negotiations over the tariff issue.
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association president Mahmud Hasan Khan and Leathergoods and Footwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association of Bangladesh president Syed Nasim Manzur, among others, were present at Monday鈥檚 meeting with the commerce minister.
