Bangladesh has secured a lowered US tariff rate of 19% under a trade agreement signed between the two countries on February 9, with exemptions granted for certain textiles and garments produced using US materials.
Muhammad Yunus, the present head and chief adviser leading Bangladesh’s interim government, said Washington had “committed to putting in place a mechanism under which specific textile and apparel products from Bangladesh, made with US-produced cotton and man-made fibre, would receive zero reciprocal tariffs in the US market.”
The White House, in a statement, said Bangladesh had agreed to extend substantial preferential market access to US industrial and agricultural products, including chemicals, medical devices, machinery, motor vehicles and parts, soy and dairy products, beef, poultry, tree nuts and fruit.
Bangladesh will also move to reduce non-tariff barriers by adopting US vehicle safety and emissions standards, recognising certifications issued by the US Food and Drug Administration, and lifting import restrictions on remanufactured goods, the White House said.
Both countries also highlighted recent and forthcoming commercial arrangements, including aircraft acquisitions. Bangladesh will roughly purchase $3.5 billion of US agricultural goods, and an estimated $15 billion worth of U.S. energy imports over 15 years.
According to the 32-page US-Bangladesh agreement released by the Office of the US Trade Representative, Biman Bangladesh Airlines plans to buy 14 Boeing aircraft, with options for additional orders. The airline had first announced the Boeing deal last July while negotiations were ongoing.
Bangladesh will also procure an unspecified quantity of U.S. military equipment and restrict purchases from certain countries.
The low-wage South Asian nation is further committed to upholding internationally recognised labour rights and enhancing environmental safeguards.
Yunus said the deal was the outcome of nine months of negotiations that began in April last year.
In August, Bangladesh had already secured a reduction in US tariffs on its exports to 20%, down from the 37% rate initially proposed by Washington, providing much-needed relief to the country’s apparel exporters.
Bangladesh’s tariff rate remains slightly higher than the 18% rate agreed for imports from India last week under the Trump administration, though that agreement still requires further negotiations to be finalised.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Bangladesh had become the first South Asian country to conclude a reciprocal trade agreement with the United States, describing it as “a meaningful step forward in opening markets, addressing trade barriers, and creating new opportunities for American exporters.”
The ready-made garments industry forms the backbone of Bangladesh’s economy, accounting for over 80% of export earnings, employing around 4 million workers, and contributing roughly 10% to gross domestic product.
Bangladesh is set to go to the polls on Thursday to elect new leadership after being run by an interim administration since August 2024, when former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India, where she remains.
According to tariff schedules released by the USTR, Bangladesh will slash high tariffs to zero on a range of agricultural and food products — including poultry, pork, seafood, rice, corn and cereal grains — once the agreement takes effect.
Other duties will be cut by 50% at the outset and phased down to zero over five or ten years, depending on the product. It will take ten years for the current 53.6% tariff on almonds to be eliminated, while the same duty on four-stroke auto-rickshaw engines will be removed over five years.
Most US tariffs will be set at a flat 19%, although Bangladeshi-made pharmaceutical ingredients and aircraft parts will be allowed duty-free, in line with treatment accorded to other countries that have signed tariff-reduction agreements with the Trump administration.
