Businesses said on Saturday that they don鈥檛 want to lose the US market and are optimistic that the trade talks regarding a 35 per cent tariff will succeed in the end.
They also said that the US is the single largest export destination of the country, and a decline in exports to this destination would deal聽a significant blow to the country鈥簊 exports.
They were responding about the outcome of the second-round negotiation between Bangladesh and the US, which ended on Friday in Washington.聽
According to a social media post of Golam Mortaza, press minister at the Embassy of Bangladesh in Washington DC, several issues remain unresolved following the second round of trade talks between Bangladesh and the US.
However, both parties agreed to continue negotiations to resolve the outstanding issues, the official added.
Speaking to 抖阴精品, Inamul Haq Khan, senior vice president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, stated that they have become worried that approximately 20 per cent of the issues remain unresolved.
鈥榃e expect that the rest of the issues would be resolved at the next discussion and the tariff would be lowered to about 25 per cent,鈥� he added.
He also stated that manufacturers reported that some buyers, including Walmart, withheld their orders, and there have been issues with order cancellations.
鈥楳eanwhile, some of the factories reached contract to share the tariff with the buyers,鈥� he added.
According to the businesses, they were still in the dark about the tariff talks, as the government had not communicated with them.
鈥楬owever, through some entourages, we have come to know that聽Washington wanted Dhaka to keep distance with companies under the sanctioned-hit list from the US,鈥� said Mohiuddin Rubel, former director of the BGMEA and managing director of the Bangladesh Apparel Exchange.
He also said that they expected that the talks would reach a positive result.
鈥業f competitors get lower tariff rates, it would be disastrous for us,鈥� he added, saying that it was high time to focus on market diversification.
They also stated that the US required 40 per cent value addition for Bangladeshi exports. However, they noted that this would only be possible if the US set a tariff below 20 per cent, as it was challenging for the woven garments sector.
In FY25, Bangladesh exported goods worth $8.69 billion to the US, according to the Export Promotion Bureau data, with $7.54 billion being聽RMG.
The second round of the tariff talks, led by commerce adviser Sheikh Bashir Uddin, started on Wednesday and concluded on Friday.
