A Bangladeshi delegation led by commerce adviser Sk Bashir Uddin, left Dhaka for Washington on Monday evening for the third and round of negotiation of Trump鈥簊 35 per cent reciprocal tariffs.
The delegation is expected to sit on tariff talks with United States Trade Representatives on July 29 and 30, with the possibility of another meeting on July 31.
The outcome of the meeting might be available on August 1, said commerce secretary Mahbubur Rahman on Sunday.
The Bangladeshi delegation left Dhaka at around 7:30pm.
Commerce secretary Mahbubur Rahman also said that Bangladesh planned to purchase 25 Boeing aircraft as part of trade negotiations with the United States, aimed at reducing the reciprocal tariff of 35 per cent.
Meanwhile, on Monday, Shafiqul Alam, press secretary of the chief adviser, told the reporters that the government was hopeful of a positive outcome from the third round of talks between a Bangladeshi delegation and the USTR.
He also said that Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus had a meeting with US Charg茅 d鈥篈ffaires Tracey Ann Jacobson at the State Guest House Jamuna on Monday, which covered a range of issues, including the US-Bangladesh tariff talks.
He said at the time that a group of businessmen would also accompany the Bangladesh delegation, expected to depart on Monday evening, although they would not directly take part in the talks.
Earlier, on July 8, the Trump administration imposed a 35 per cent tariff on Bangladeshi exports, set to take effect from August 1.
The second round of discussions ended on July 11, but failed to produce consensus from either side regarding the tariff policy.
As per tariff talks, on July 20, Bangladesh signed a memorandum of understanding with the US to import seven lakh tonnes of wheat annually for the next five years to reduce the trade deficit.
On July 23, the interim government decided to procure 2.20 lakh tonnes of wheat from the US at $302.75 per tonne.
According to the commerce ministry, there would be more discussions on other proposals.
Meanwhile on Sunday, US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick told Fox News that US deadline of August 1 for imposing tariffs on its trading partners is firm and there would not be any extensions.
Along with commerce adviser Sk Bashir Uddin and commerce secretary Mahbubur Rahman, national security adviser Khalilur Rahman and commerce ministry additional secretary Nazneen Kawshar Chowdhury are also expected to attend tariff talks, according to commerce ministry officials.
Earlier in April, the US imposed a 37 per cent tariff on Bangladeshi products, which was lowered to 35 per cent on July 8.
Currently, the Bangladeshi exporters enjoy a 15鈥�16 per cent tariff when exporting to the North American country.
