Commerce Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir on Thursday said the trade agreement between Bangladesh and the United States has helped reduce the reciprocal tariff on Bangladeshi products and enabled the country to retain its competitiveness in the US market.

He made the remarks in a written reply to a starred question from ruling BNP lawmaker Md Salimuzzaman Molla of Gopalganj-1 in Parliament.

The lawmaker had asked about the benefits the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART), signed with the US by the interim government, would bring to the people of Bangladesh.

Muktadir said Bangladeshi products exported to the US were subject to an average Most Favoured Nation (MFN) tariff of around 15% before April 2025.

In April 2025, the US imposed an additional 37% reciprocal tariff on Bangladeshi products on top of the existing MFN tariff, raising the overall average tariff burden to around 52%, he said.

Following consultations with relevant government and private-sector stakeholders, Bangladesh began negotiations with the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), Muktadir said.

As a result of the negotiations, the US reduced the reciprocal tariff on Bangladeshi products from 37% to 19%, leading to the signing of the ART between the two countries, he said.

The agreement also provides for a reduction in the reciprocal tariff on garments manufactured in Bangladesh using cotton imported from the US and subsequently exported to the US, according to the minister.

Muktadir said the US later conducted an investigation into forced labour under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.

Following the investigation, the US imposed additional tariffs of 10% or 12.5% on products from around 60 countries, including Bangladesh, on top of their existing average MFN tariffs, based on whether countries had prohibited imports of products made using forced labour or were effectively enforcing such prohibitions.

However, because Bangladesh had signed the ART with the US, the additional tariff on Bangladeshi products was set at 10%, the minister said.

“As a result, Bangladesh has been able to retain its export competitiveness in the US market compared with its competing countries,” he said.

Muktadir said the agreement and subsequent tariff adjustments would help Bangladeshi exporters maintain their position in the US market, one of the country’s key export destinations.