In aggressive bid to woo Bangladesh, China announces tariff exemption for 97% of exports from Dhaka from 1 July

In a bid to woo Bangladesh, China has provided a huge trade boost to the country by announcing tariff exemption for 97 percent of Bangladeshi products effective from 1 July. The decision has come one month after Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a discussion to upgrade their bilateral relations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh announced on Friday that 97 percent of items would be exempted from Chinese tariffs. As part of the government’s economic diplomacy and the outcome of the exchange of letters between Bangladesh and China, Tariff Commission of the Chinese State Council issued a notice recently on granting zero treatment to 97 percent of tariff products of Bangladesh, the Dhaka Tribune reported, quoting the ministry’s statement. [caption id=“attachment_8509831” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  File image of Sheikh Hasina. AP[/caption] With this announcement, a total of 8,256 Bangladeshi products will come under the 97 percent of products that would be exempted from the tariff. Currently, 3095 Bangladeshi products enjoy duty-free access to the Chinese market under the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA). With the new announcement, 97 percent of Bangladeshi products will join this zero-tariff club from July 1 that raised the numbers of Bangladeshi products with zero duty access to the Chinese market to 8,256, the report said. During the Asian-African Conference which took place this week in Indonesia, Chinese President Xi announced that China will grant duty-free market access for Least Developed Countries (LDC) 97 percent of the tariff lines within a year. This beneficial market access scheme will be applied only for imports from LDCs that have diplomatic relations with China. China’s tariff exemption is expected to help Bangladesh cushion the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.