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Economists and exporters have said that the 35 per cent tariff that the United States announced for Bangladeshi goods would be a major blow to the country’s businesses.

They also observed that the government might have started late serious negotiations over lowering the rate.

Early Tuesday (Bangladesh time), on the Truth Social platform, US president Donald J Trump declared the 35 per cent tariff on Bangladeshi products on top of sectoral tariffs.

He also unveiled higher tariffs for a number of other countries through letters on his social platform.

Currently, Bangladeshi exporters enjoy a tariff of about 15 per cent in shipping their products to the US, the single largest export destination for Bangladesh.

With the imposition of the 35 per cent tariff, the total tariff would be 50-51 per cent, effective from August 1, originally due today.

Fazlee Shamim Ehsan, executive president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said, ‘The level of possible impact is yet to be clear. However, as Bangladesh’s negotiations with the US in this regard are still ongoing, we are hopeful that something positive would come.’

Finance adviser Salehuddin Ahmed told reporters on Tuesday that the proposed 35 per cent US tariff on Bangladeshi export products was not final, as the final resolution would come through one-to-one negotiations.

He also said that a team from Dhaka was currently in Washington to negotiate the tariff issue with the United States Trade Representative, and the meeting was scheduled to take place Wednesday morning (Bangladesh time).

Fazlee Shamim said that they were still waiting for the tariffs declared on BRICS countries and Pakistan.

‘We have also come to know that there is mirroring clause, meaning US sanctions imposed on China could automatically influence the Bangladeshi exports if the products are manufactured with Chinese raw materials,’ he added.

Inamul Haq Khan Bablu, senior vice-president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· that if the tariff on India and Pakistan were declared lower than that of Bangladesh, it would be disastrous for the country’s exporters.

‘However, as there are about 20 days to discuss, we hope that the rate would be lowered,’ he added.

He also said that the businesses were still in the dark about how the government were conducting negotiations.

‘The government might be late in starting serious negotiations over the issue. The government had three months to negotiate with the US and they should have sealed the negotiations within the time frame,’ he added.

Earlier on April 3, the US had imposed a steep 37 per cent ‘reciprocal’ tariff on Bangladeshi exports, but on April 9, the US president declared a pause on the tariff for three months.

The businesses said that since Bangladesh had time until August 1, there was an opportunity to reduce the tariff further through discussions during this period.

Mohiuddin Rubel, managing director of the Bangladesh Apparel Exchange and a former director of the BGMEA, stated that given the US status as Bangladesh’s top export destination, the impact of this tariff was anticipated to be significant.

‘Apart from the immediate threat of reduced export orders, the implications extend to job losses and economic instability within the country,’ he added, saying that the rise in duty could lead to multifaceted challenges beyond just a decline in trade, affecting various aspects of Bangladesh’s economic landscape.

He also said that to address this challenging situation, Bangladesh must take immediate action, including advocating for changes in tariff policies.

Zahid Hussain, former lead economist at the World Bank’s Dhaka Office, said that Vietnam secured a flat 20 per cent tariff, but Bangladesh faced a 35 per cent increase on existing sectoral tariffs.

‘Countries like Indonesia and South Africa appear to have negotiated better deals than Bangladesh,’ he added, saying that among the 14 countries announced, only four were behind Bangladesh in negotiations.

‘Now we are waiting to see how India, one of our major rivals, has negotiated terms,’ he added.

‘I don’t think there would be any significant change within two days. If that were the case, this letter [Trump’s letter] wouldn’t have been issued. Trump has said there is time until August, and if the government believes it can achieve in the remaining days what it couldn’t in the past three months, that would certainly be good for the country,’ he added.

Professor Mustafizur Rahman, a distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue, said that it was informed that Bangladesh was the first country to begin discussions with the USTR.

Yet, after three months of negotiations, the outcome is deeply disappointing, he said.

He also stated that the additional tariff had been reduced by only 2 percentage points through these negotiations, which would be a major blow to exports, as it would create a significant disadvantage for the exporters compared with their competitors.

There were an exchange of letters and a series of meetings between the Bangladesh government and the USTR over the past two months over the tariff rate.

In 2024, Bangladesh exported about $8.4 billion in goods to the US, of which $7.34 billion accounted for readymade garments. In 2024, US goods exports to Bangladesh were worth $2.2 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $6.2 billion for the US.