Former special envoy to Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus, Lutfey Siddiqi, has defended Bangladesh's reciprocal trade agreement with the United States, arguing that the country emerged from negotiations in a stronger position than many regional competitors despite criticism of the deal.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, Siddiqi said the agreement should be judged against the shifting global trade landscape rather than in isolation, arguing that Bangladesh had secured comparatively favourable terms while avoiding tougher conditions imposed on other countries.
"Yes. For Vietnam, it's 12.5%. Why isn't YoungOne and others shifting their factories from Vietnam to Bangladesh?" Siddiqi wrote, referring to Vietnam's additional US tariff. "Amongst those who got 10% like BD, no-one else in South Asia got TRQ for using US cotton. Why aren't we taking advantage of that asap? It's the relativity that matters."
He argued that Bangladesh had avoided outcomes that could have been far more damaging, including higher tariffs than Vietnam, the absence of a tariff-rate quota (TRQ) linked to US cotton imports, and mandatory multi-billion-dollar investment commitments in the United States.
"Thankfully, through teamwork and a deliberate journey of negotiations with an unconventional counterpart, Bangladesh ended up with the exact opposite of those outcomes," he wrote.
Siddiqi noted that Bangladesh's initial reciprocal tariff of 37% had been reduced to 20% by July before falling further to 19% following the conclusion of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART). He contrasted Bangladesh's outcome with Vietnam's 12.5% additional tariff and said Malaysia and Indonesia had accepted quantified investment commitments in the US.
Looking beyond the immediate agreement, Siddiqi said Bangladesh must reduce its dependence on the US market by broadening its economic base and deepening ties with other partners.
"Longer term we have to diversify our economy enough to escape the chokehold of the dollar orbit. Which is why the stuff with China is great. But near term, it's about ensuring that market share in the US does not go down too much," he wrote.
The former envoy, who played a leading role in Bangladesh's trade negotiations, including the proposed Bangladesh-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement, also called for continued reforms in labour standards, port management, customs digitalisation and investment promotion to strengthen the country's export competitiveness.
His remarks come amid continuing debate over the US-Bangladesh trade agreement, with economists and trade analysts divided over whether the deal adequately protects Bangladesh's long-term export interests.
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