Bangladesh would seek to lower the 20 per cent tariff announced by the United States administration before the deal is finalised.
A three-member delegation of the United States Trade Representative, led by Brendan Lynch, assistant US trade representative for South and Central Asia, would arrive in Dhaka today.
On a two-day visit, the delegation would discuss the draft tariff deal with Bangladesh.
The final trade deal is unlikely to be signed during the visit, said commerce ministry officials.
Earlier on July 31, the US decided to reduce the reciprocal tariff on imported goods from Bangladesh to 20 per cent from the previously announced 35 per cent following a series of negotiations for over a month.
According to commerce ministry officials, a draft trade agreement has already been prepared following discussions with the USTR, and it would be finalised with necessary amendments if progress is made during the negotiations.
The commerce ministry officials also said that they would push for further lowering the tariff from the announced 20 per cent, though they didn鈥檛 reveal the aspiring rate.
Talking to 抖阴精品, commerce secretary Mahbubur Rahman said that聽no final agreement might be signed during the negotiation.
鈥榃e would negotiate on the draft agreement and would continue our efforts to make the tariff more favourable for Bangladesh,鈥� he added.
The decision on final agreement is under the jurisdiction of the USTR central office in Washington, he added, saying that they were ready to visit Washington if needed.
On Friday, commerce adviser聽Sheikh Bashir Uddin said that the US tariff announcement was essentially an interim step of the ongoing trade negotiations between the two countries.
鈥楾o give the process a structural shape, the USTR delegates are coming and we would issue a joint declaration on the trade negotiations,鈥� he added.
Earlier on August 11, Khalilur Rahman, the national security adviser of the interim government, who had participated in the tariff negotiations, said that the tariff might decrease further for Bangladesh.
鈥榃e still have some discussions pending with the US, and if those talks succeed, we may secure further tariff concessions,鈥� he added.
The USTR delegates are expected to hold talks with chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus and senior officials from the foreign ministry.
Bangladesh was required to pay about 15 per cent to 16 per cent tariff on exporting goods to the US.聽
Earlier, on July 8, through a letter to the chief adviser, Washington imposed a 35 per cent reciprocal tariff, by lowering from the 37 per cent tariff announced on April 2.
On April 9, Washington put the tariffs on hold for three months, giving countries an opportunity to negotiate, which ended on July 9 and was further extended until July 31.
During this time, Bangladesh conducted a series of negotiations and agreed to cut the trade deficit with the US.
In 2024, Bangladesh exported goods worth $8.4 billion to the US, its single largest export destination, of which $7.34 billion accounted for readymade garments.聽
In the year, the country imported US goods worth $2.2 billion.
Against this backdrop, the US is pressing Bangladesh to lower the trade deficit to get a 鈥榝avourable鈥� tariff rate.
With a view to reducing the trade deficit, Bangladesh plans to purchase 25 Boeing aircraft on July 27.
Earlier, 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 with the US.
On July 23, the interim government decided to procure 2.20 lakh tonnes of wheat from the US at $302.75 a tonnes.
Moreover, Dhaka agreed to increase imports from the US by $1.5 billion over the next 12 to 18 months by importing civil-aviation spares, cotton, edible oils, and LNG, along with the abovementioned items.