DHAKA: Bangladesh, the world’s second-biggest garment manufacturer, holds hope to reduce the 35 per cent tariff that United States President Donald Trump said he will impose, the country’s top commerce official told AFP on Tuesday (Jul 8).
Textile and garment production accounts for about 80 per cent of exports in Bangladesh, and the industry has been rebuilding after it was hit hard in a student-led revolution that toppled the government last year.
“There is a hope for getting a reduced rate of tariffs as USTR (Office of the United States Trade Representative) sent another draft document for review,” Commerce Secretary Mahbubur Rahman told AFP.
Rahman said the South Asia nation’s national security adviser and commerce adviser were “working on the issue” in the US.
Bangladesh exported US$8.36 billion worth of goods to the US in 2024, while imports from there amounted to US$2.21 billion, according to the Bangladesh Bank and the National Board of Revenue.
US clothing companies that source products from Bangladesh range from Fruit of the Loom to Levi Strauss to VF Corp – whose brands include Vans, Timberland and The North Face.
Trump hit Bangladesh with 37 per cent tariffs in an Apr 2 announcement, but in a letter issued on Tuesday, the US leader said it would now be 35 per cent.
That is more than double the 16 per cent already placed on cotton products.
