Bangladesh will sign a trade agreement with the United States tonight. The agreement is scheduled to be signed in Washington, DC, at 11:00 pm Bangladesh time today, Monday. If concluded, the United States’ existing reciprocal tariff on Bangladesh could be reduced from the current 20 per cent, Commerce Adviser Sheikh Bashir Uddin said, expressing optimism at a press briefing held at the Secretariat yesterday (Sunday).
The adviser noted that he expects the additional 20 per cent tariff imposed on Bangladeshi goods by the Trump administration to be lowered. He said, “We have been trying to see how much further it can be reduced. We hope the agreement to be signed on the 9th will bring down the rate. However, I do not wish — or am unable — to say at this moment by how much it will be reduced. We will see based on the negotiations.”
Assuring that the agreement would contain nothing contrary to Bangladesh’s national interests, he added that it would be made public subject to US consent.
Although Commerce Adviser Sheikh Bashir Uddin and Commerce Secretary Mahbubur Rahman were initially expected to travel to the United States to sign the agreement, sources in the ministry said they would not attend the event in Washington.
The 13th parliamentary election scheduled for 12 February falls close to the signing date, and they have therefore refrained from travelling. However, both the adviser and the secretary will join the ceremony virtually.
A five-member delegation led by Khadija Nazneen, additional secretary of the WTO wing of the Commerce Ministry, left Dhaka yesterday for Washington, DC, for the signing ceremony. The other members include two joint secretaries — Firoz Uddin Ahmed and Mostafizur Rahman — senior assistant secretary Sheikh Shamsul Arefin, and National Board of Revenue (NBR) commissioner Raich Uddin Khan.
According to ministry sources, the agreement will bear the signatures of Commerce Adviser Sheikh Bashir Uddin and United States Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer. The adviser has already signed one copy in Dhaka, and the delegation carried that copy to Washington.
On 2 April 2025, US President Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on about 100 countries at varying rates. Bangladesh’s initial rate was set at 37 per cent. The United States later postponed implementation for three months.
Exactly three months later, on 7 July 2025, Trump announced a reduction of Bangladesh’s rate from 37 per cent to 35 per cent. After further negotiations, the rate was lowered to 20 per cent on 2 August, effective from 7 August.
Bangladesh already faced a pre-existing tariff of 15 per cent on its exports to the US, bringing the combined tariff burden to 35 per cent.
Bilateral trade between Bangladesh and the United States stands at about USD 8 billion. Of this, Bangladesh exports goods worth roughly USD 6 billion, while it imports around USD 2 billion — leaving the trade balance in Bangladesh’s favour.
To reduce this gap, Bangladesh has begun importing various US agricultural products such as wheat, soybean oil, corn, and cotton, as well as aircraft and aircraft parts, and liquefied natural gas (LNG).