Bangladesh : Reducing US trade GAP: Dhaka turns to Boeing, wheat imports
Bangladesh will sign a deal on Sunday to import 3,00,000 tonnes of US wheat and 14 Boeing aircraft, aiming to reduce a \$6 billion trade gap with the US. The move follows pressure from the Trump administration and precedes high-stakes tariff talks, as Dhaka seeks relief from steep 35% US tariffs on its exports.
The government is set to sign an agreement for the wheat imports on Sunday in Dhaka, according to Bangladesh plans to buy 14 Boeing aircraft and about 3,00,000 tonnes of US wheat, as Dhaka responds to pressure from the Trump administration to narrow a trade gap of more than $6 billion.
“This is the beginning of the trade cooperation between Bangladesh and the US,” Commerce Secretary Mahbubur Rahman told The Daily Star yesterday.
Negotiations with Boeing for the aircraft are at an advanced stage, he confirmed, although a timeline for delivery remains contingent on the US manufacturer’s production capacity. The total value of the aircraft and wheat deals has not yet been disclosed.
The push to increase imports from the US comes as Bangladesh is engaged in negotiations with the United States Trade Representative to secure lower tariffs on its exports. President Donald Trump has imposed a 35 percent tariff on goods from Bangladesh, a rate significantly higher than that applied to competitors such as Vietnam (20 percent) and Indonesia (19 percent).
Bangladeshi officials are preparing for a third round of talks in Washington next week, aiming to conclude a reciprocal tariff agreement before new rates take effect on August 1.
“We are trying to reduce the trade gap between Bangladesh and the US by increasing imports from America,” said Rahman. He noted that his ministry has been consulting with business leaders from the crucial garment and pharmaceutical sectors, as well as trade experts, ahead of the negotiations.
Rahman declined to provide further details, citing a bilateral non-disclosure agreement.
The government also plans to include private sector representatives in the upcoming talks, a move businesses have recently advocated for. In addition to government-led purchases, private sector importers are being encouraged to source more goods, such as soybeans, from the US.
The effort to rebalance trade follows earlier proposals from Dhaka. In April, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus wrote to Trump offering to increase imports of US cotton, wheat, LNG, and soybeans. A similar offer was made by Commerce Adviser Sk Bashir Uddin to USTR Jamieson Greer.
Bangladesh currently exports goods worth more than $8 billion annually to the US, its single largest export market, while it imports goods valued at over $2 billion. The high tariffs have caused significant concern among exporters, particularly in the garment industry, who fear losing competitiveness.
President Trump on Wednesday said he intends to send a single letter telling more than 150 countries what tariff rate they will face, according to a report by Politico.
“It’s all going to be the same for everyone, for that group,” Trump told reporters during a meeting with the Bahrain Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa at the White House, as the Politico reported.
“They’re not big countries, and they don’t do that much business. Not like the ones we’ve agreed with, like China, like Japan.”
Currently, all countries are paying an additional baseline tariff of 10 percent that Trump set in April. Trump has previously indicated the new baseline could be 15 to 20 percent but did not mention a tariff rate.
Trump has already sent out roughly two dozen letters informing individual trading partners like the European Union, Japan and South Korea of the tariff rate they will face effective August 1, the politico said.
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Source : The Daily Star
