Trade Advisor Sheikh Bashiruddin has said that the second round of talks with the US on tariff policy is promising.
He told reporters after a discussion meeting on the draft of the Reciprocal Tariff Agreement between the US and Bangladesh at the meeting room of the Ministry of Commerce at the Secretariat on Monday (July 14) afternoon.
Sheikh Bashiruddin said, “We returned from the US on Sunday after completing our second round of talks. We spoke to stakeholders today about various issues under discussion.”
He said, “We are preparing for the third round of talks after completing the second round of talks. We will go to the US this month. We hope for a good outcome.”
He also said, “Our talks in the US have been promising. The talks were quite engaging. I also had a meeting with the US Commerce Secretary.” We have spoken to 35-40 people who were involved in the negotiations with us.
The advisor said, we have received several suggestions from there. We hope that through these discussions, the US will determine a reasonable tariff rate for us on exports.
Sheikh Bashiruddin said, we do business in the US market at competitive prices. We have been doing business by paying tariffs since 2015. Our business organization does this business based on its own capacity. If there is no discriminatory position with us, then our businessmen will do business successfully.
A reasonable tariff rate is being talked about. In fact, what percentage of tariff do you consider reasonable? In response to a question from journalists, he said, ‘zero’.
At this time, Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce Mahbubur Rahman, Additional Secretary (WTO) Dr. Nazneen Kausar Chowdhury, Executive Director of South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM) Dr. Selim Raihan, Vice Chairman of Export Promotion Bureau Anwar Hossain, Administrator of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) Md. Hafizur Rahman, President of Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Mahmud Hasan Khan, President of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association Mohammad Hatem, President of Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI) Anwar ul Alam Chowdhury (Pervez), Managing Director of Apex Footwear Syed Nasim Manjur and others were present.
