US cotton producers on Thursday proposed a direct supply arrangement with Bangladesh鈥檚 textile sector to bypass middlemen and recover their declining market share amid stalled tariff talks between Dhaka and Washington.
At a strategic dialogue held at The Westin Dhaka, hosted by US-Bangladeshi firm AmeriBangla Corporation, top garment exporters, US cotton growers, and global trade professionals discussed a farmer-to-factory supply chain model.
The goal was to cut costs, ensure long-term supply security, and improve compliance standards.
Currently, US cotton is 5鈥�6 cents per pound more expensive than imports from West Africa or India. But AmeriBangla CEO Aswar Rahman argued that direct sourcing would offset the price gap due to superior quality and lower waste.
US cotton has less than 2 per cent waste, while others have up to 10 per cent. Every 1 per cent waste means a 1.5 per cent production loss, Aswar said.
US cotton鈥檚 share in Bangladesh鈥檚 total cotton imports has slipped to just 6 per cent in the first seven months of FY25.
To reverse this, US farmers are ready to supply directly, provided Bangladesh allows bonded warehousing and a simplified ordering system.
In return, these politically influential farmers 鈥� spread across 17 southern US states 鈥� would lobby Congress to reduce tariffs on Bangladeshi garments.
Garment makers welcomed the initiative but emphasised the need for fixed long-term pricing to avoid future hikes.
To back the effort, AmeriBangla plans to open a dedicated showroom featuring apparel made from US cotton.
Participants included top executives from Hamim, Jamuna, Saad, Divine, True, and RPM groups, alongside representatives from Marubeni, BKMEA, Kuehne+Nagel, and AmeriBangla.
