Bangladesh has expressed concern over the US trade bill concerning the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) apprehending that a less developed country (LDC) like Bangladesh would lose its competitive edge in the American market due to preferential treatments to the trans-Pacific partners.
Bangladesh Ambassador to the US Mohammad Ziauddin expressed Dhaka’s concern in separate meetings with Congressmen Brad Sherman (Democrat - California) and Tom Marino (Republican- Pennsylvania) at the Capitol Hill this week, the embassy said in a statement.
Brad Sherman is the ranking member of the subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee and Tom Marino is the chairman of the subcommittee on Regulatory Reform and Commercial and Antitrust Law.
During the meetings Ambassador Ziauddin briefed the Congressmen on Bangladesh’s trade relations with the US. He said that as a LDC Bangladesh does not receive any special or deferential treatment from the US in terms of trade and commerce.
The Ambassador stated that the US is a major destination for Bangladeshi products mainly readymade garments (RMG), receiving nearly one fourth of Bangladesh’s total exports. Bangladesh apparels are subjected to high tariff in the USA as opposed to zero tariffs to almost all other least developed countries in the world.
Ziauddin said that the around 90 per cent RMG workers are women, tand their employment has accelerated the process of women empowerment and socio-economic development in Bangladesh. At this juncture, to encourage the women empowerment and socio-economic growth partner, the US should grant preferential market access (duty free and quota free) for Bangladeshi products as accorded to other developing countries of the Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean and reinstate the GSP facilities for Bangladesh, the statement said.
