Commerce Adviser Sk Bashiruddin has said that Bangladesh wants to further reduce the additional 20% countervailing tariff imposed on Bangladeshi products in the US market.
He made this remark to journalists after a meeting with Brendan Lynch, Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia, at the conference room of the Ministry of Commerce on Sunday afternoon.
The adviser said that a delegation has arrived in Dhaka today on a three-day visit to finalise the issue of a trade agreement between the two countries based on discussions and understanding regarding the countervailing duty. A cordial discussion was held with them.
“If we can achieve our objective of reducing the trade deficit with the United States, we can hope that there is a possibility of reducing our tariffs,” he said. At that time, Sk Bashiruddin also mentioned the possibility of a reciprocal tariff agreement with the United States soon.
He said that discussions were held on the progress of the commitments already made to increase purchases of certain products from that country to reduce the trade deficit between the two countries. Essentially, commitments have been made to purchase agricultural and energy products, as well as aircraft. Good progress has also been made regarding the purchases.
Present at the time were Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce Mahbubur Rahman and Chairman of the National Skills Development Authority Dr Nazneen Kausar Chowdhury.
