Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) is trying to hire lobbyists to negotiate a reduction in the additional tariffs imposed on Bangladeshi products. BGMEA President Mahmud Hasan Khan said, “Since yesterday, we have been actively trying to hire lobbyists. However, the response from them has been limited, as most are already affiliated with other countries.”
He made these remarks at a roundtable discussion on “US Counter Tariffs: What Path for Bangladesh” held today, Sunday. Prothom Alo organised the roundtable at the Sonargaon Hotel in the capital, where leading economists, business leaders and researchers of the country were present.
Mahmud Hasan Khan said, “Personally, I was still hopeful even three days ago. Those directly involved in the negotiations had informally said they were very confident. But for the past two days, there have been whispers that they’ve realised the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is not the final authority in reducing the counter-tariffs. That authority lies with the Trump administration. And it took them this long to figure that out!”
The BGMEA president added, “Had we known this a month earlier, we could have started the process of hiring lobbyists then. Since yesterday, we’ve been scrambling to engage lobbyists. But the response has been lukewarm, because most of them are already working on behalf of other countries. Some members of my organisation’s board of directors are now discouraging involvement in this process, fearing that the negotiations are likely to fail. And if it fails, why should we bear the burden of that failure?”
Backing his remarks with data, Mahmud Hasan Khan said that 1,322 BGMEA member factories export readymade garments to the United States. Among them, 100 factories send 91-100 per cent of their exports to the US. On the other hand, 822 factories export between 0 to 20 per cent of their output to that market. He further stated, “We operate with a margin of 1.2 per cent to 1.5 per cent. Even if the additional tariff is 20 per cent, we might still find some room to adjust -unless the counter-tariff imposed on India, Vietnam, and Indonesia is lower than ours.”
He continued, “Garment exports are our livelihood. Even though it’s late, we’re still trying to hire lobbyists. We’re in touch with the private-sector research institute PRI. We’ve already contacted two lobbyists, one of them has responded.” He added that unless the tug-of-war within the bureaucracy stops, the private sector won’t be able to move forward. “We need to negotiate the counter-tariffs smartly. Unfortunately, the government has never truly recognised the private sector.”