Foreign Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud told the Parliament that the United States has never given duty-free and quota-free facilities for the export of garment products from Bangladesh to that country.
The Foreign Minister gave the information in response to a written question by Member of Parliament Md. Mujibul Haque during the 2024-25 fiscal year budget sessions in the Jatiya Sangsad on Monday (July 1). Speaker Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury presided over the session.
Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud said that the United States has never provided duty-free and quota-free facilities for the export of garment products from Bangladesh to that country. However, the import duty rate imposed on garment products is uniform for Bangladesh and other competing countries in light of WTO MFN policy. Even while Bangladesh was under the US GSP facility, garment products were excluded. Without this advantage, the United States has become the single largest market for Bangladesh's garment exports through open competition. The United States has not yet reintroduced its GSP regime since its expiration in December 2020. Diplomatic efforts on the part of the government to include Bangladesh in the GSP facility when it is reopened and in that case to bring garment products under the GSP are also ongoing.
He said, Bangladesh-US Annual Trade Dialogue (TICFA) also raises this demand on a regular basis. In addition to this, the Bangladesh government has also raised the demand for duty-free access to the US market for garments and textile products made with cotton purchased from the United States. It should be noted that no country has any special regional agreements/assistance programs such as the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) for the Caribbean States or the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) for the Sub-Saharan States or any special arrangements or Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). Garment products generally do not enjoy duty-free export to the United States.
Md. Mujibul HaqueMP asked the Foreign Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud to know - Among the principles of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1) maintaining friendly relations with foreign countries including neighboring countries; (2) To attract foreign investment and ensure duty-free and quota-free access of Bangladeshi products to the world market. Bangladesh ranks 2nd in the production of garment products in the world.