During the seventh meeting of the United States-Bangladesh Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement (TICFA) Council, held in Dhaka recently, Bangladesh expressed its desire to have duty-free export privileges reinstated in the US market even as, in response, US trade representatives emphasised the need to expedite amendments to labour laws and ensure workers’ rights to form trade unions.

However, the outcome of the meeting remained inconclusive.

Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce, Tapan Kanti Ghosh, and Acting Assistant USTR for South and Central Asia, Brendan Lynch, co-chaired the meeting, which included officials from various agencies, including trade, labour, and intellectual property.

Following the meeting, Tapan Kanti Ghosh informed the media that the Bangladeshi side strongly urged the US to grant duty-free access to Bangladeshi products in the US market.

This privilege, particularly significant for Bangladesh’s primary export item, readymade garments, had been suspended due to labour-related concerns.

To support their request for preferential trade treatment, Ghosh pointed out that Bangladesh imports approximately 14 per cent of its total global cotton purchases from the USA even as he explained, “We have requested them to consider duty-free access for apparel exported to the US that uses this cotton.”

During the meeting, US representatives also inquired about labour-related issues, including the rights situation in Bangladesh even as they expressed satisfaction with the improved labour union registration process and were pleased with the progress in the investigation of the murder of labour leader Shahidul Islam.

Additionally, the meeting addressed intellectual property rights (IPR) as Bangladesh continues its transition to becoming a developing country.