 "Muhammad Yunus, Chief Adviser of the Government of Bangladesh. File image/ Reuters")
After last August’s student-led uprising and the subsequent ouster of now-deposed PM Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s textile and garment production had just started to come back on track. The industry is the backbone of the country’s economy, accounting for 80 per cent of the country’s exports.
However, the Donald Trump administration on Monday (July 7) slammed his wrecking ball into the industry by imposing a whopping 35 per cent tariff on the impoverished South Asian economy.
This is more than double the 16 per cent currently levied by the US, a major export destination for Dhaka.
Bangladesh exported $8.36 billion worth of goods to the United States in 2024, while imports from there amounted to $2.21 billion, according to the Bangladesh Bank and the National Board of Revenue.
Bangladesh scrambles to get relief
According to a report by news agency AFP, Dhaka is now exploring ways to boost imports from the US in a bid to bridge the trade deficit, which Trump has cited to justify his tariff imposition.
The country is offering to import Boeing planes and boost imports of US wheat, cotton and oil.
Mahmud Hasan Khan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), called it “a big challenge for the garment sector”.
“We had expected the tariff imposed on us to be between 10 to 20 percent,” he said, adding he expected Dhaka’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus to “raise the issue with the United States”.
Former BGMEA director Mohiuddin Rubel warned the impact as tariffs stand would be dire.
“The new tariffs raise worries about job losses in Bangladesh as the US is its main export market,” he said.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“Bangladesh needs to act quickly by engaging US importers to push for policy changes, resuming high-level trade talks, and highlighting the importance of its products.”
US President Donald Trump has ramped up his trade offensive, threatening steep new tariffs on 14 countries unless they agree to buy more American goods and increase US-based manufacturing.