Like a lot of the world, Bangladesh had a tough time in early April when it woke as much as the information of a brand new reciprocal tariff imposed by the Donald Trump administration. The nation’s interim authorities, which is led by famous economist and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, swung into motion instantly with a contingency plan to mitigate the impression of a tariff warfare.
With a inhabitants of 170 million and a GDP per capita of round $2,550, Bangladesh’s financial system closely depends upon ready-made garment (RMG) exports – and the USA is the biggest marketplace for that sector.
Bangladesh, which used to pay a 15 p.c export responsibility to entry the U.S. market, was slapped with a 37 percent tariff on its exports to the U.S., practically all of which consist of clothes, valued at round $9 billion.
Days after he introduced the “Liberation Day” tariffs, Trump reversed course and introduced a 90-day suspension of the tariffs on all international locations besides China. Bangladesh welcomed the transfer however pledged to proceed engaged on a plan to sidestep larger U.S. tariffs.
Thanking the U.S. president “for responding positively to our request for 90-day pause on tariffs,” Yunus stated that his administration would “continue to work with” Trump’s administration in assist of its commerce agenda.
Prospects of tariff obstacles from the U.S. — Bangladesh’s largest export market — sparked important concern in Dhaka, particularly within the context of the political and financial scenario within the nation.
Underneath 15 years of autocratic rule by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the Bangladeshi financial system had been scarred by corruption and cash laundering. A white paper by a revered group of economists revealed that over $16 billion was being laundered out of Bangladesh each year throughout Hasina’s rule by cronies and beneficiaries of her social gathering, the Awami League.
Then on August 5, 2024, Hasina resigned beneath stress from mass protests. When her authorities collapsed, Bangladesh’s international reserves had been a mere $18 billion — barely sufficient to cowl three months of Bangladesh’s import funds.
Underneath Yunus’s management, the country’s reserves have rebounded to $25.44 billion, bolstered by a record-high $3.29 billion in inward remittances. Regardless of political unrest, Bangladesh’s financial system appears to be heading in the right direction, with the financial system just lately having fun with its finest month but. The interim authorities managed to maintain important costs at traditionally low ranges throughout Ramadan, a time when costs sometimes surge.
It was at this level that the brand new U.S. tariffs hit Bangladesh.
In response to the tariff announcement, Yunus convened a meeting with top officials and devised a technique that may doubtless attraction to the U.S. president. He proposed growing imports from the USA, thereby narrowing the commerce hole between the 2 international locations.
On the core of Trump’s much-discussed and debated tariff coverage is the idea of the commerce deficit — the hole between imports and exports between the U.S. and its buying and selling companions. The administration’s tariff method is designed to “cut back commerce imbalances and degree the worldwide enjoying discipline.”
In a letter to Trump, Yunus offered to boost Bangladesh’s U.S. imports. This consists of buying varied U.S. farm merchandise, resembling cotton, duty-free, in an effort to sidestep reciprocal tariffs.
Yunus additionally introduced that Bangladesh is pursuing a 50 p.c tariff discount on key U.S. export gadgets, together with gasoline generators, semiconductors, and medical gear. Moreover, the nation plans to remove a spread of non-tariff obstacles to U.S. exports, resembling eradicating particular testing necessities, streamlining packaging, and simplifying labeling processes.
Within the meantime, the 90-day suspension of the reciprocal tariff affords a welcome reprieve — significantly for textile exporters — and supplies the Yunus administration with a helpful alternative to pursue extra focused diplomatic and commerce negotiations with the USA, together with by way of personal sector engagement.
In line with authorities insiders, officers are exploring cost-effective methods to extend cotton imports from the U.S., aiming to stay aggressive regardless of the upper logistical prices in comparison with sourcing from geographically nearer suppliers like China and India.
Trade stakeholders recommend that the potential shift of investments and manufacturing of textile merchandise of U.S.-originated manufacturers from China to Bangladesh might assist offset these extra prices. Additionally they level out that the upper U.S. tariff on Chinese language RMG creates an opportunity for Bangladeshi exporters to increase their market share on this phase.
General, these initiatives by the Yunus authorities seem like well-calibrated beneath the present circumstances. They carry restricted fiscal burden whereas providing important diplomatic leverage, and may very well be framed because the sort of “good offers” which may attraction to the Trump administration.
Maybe the best benefit of getting an economist on the helm is that Yunus grasps these international dynamics and floor realities sooner than most.
