Experts call for effective negotiation strategies

International Business Forum of Bangladesh (IBFB) organized a round
table discussion titled “Revamping USA-Bangladesh Trade” on Saturday at

the conference room, IBFB office, Tejgaon in the capital.

Dr. Anisuzzaman Chowdhury, Special Assistant, Finance Division, Ministry

of Finance, attend the roundtable as the Chief Guest while IBFB

President Lutfunnisa Saudia Khan chaired the session.

Addressing the session as the chief guest, Dr. Anisujjaman Chgowdhury

stressed need to have policy co-ordination, policy independence and to

find out effective way of negotiation to tackle the challenges in the

world trade.

He said the USA will administer the world trade so we have to create

strong lobby with US and we have to bring out a new traction to coup up

with the changed situation.

“International circumstances are now different, we have to build self

confidence and ultimately we have to bring diversification in our

economy. The government will form a specialized trade negotiation body

ahead of graduation”, Dr. Chowdhury added.

Dr. Zaidi Sattar, Chairman & CEO, Policy Research Institute of

Bangladesh (PRI) presented keynote paper on the occasion.

Professor Mustafizur Rahman, Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Policy

Dialogue (CPD), Syed Ershad Ahmed, President, American Chamber of

Commerce in Bangladesh, Dr. Mahfuz Kabir, Director, Research, Bangladesh

International institute of Strategy Studies (BIISS) as distinguished

speakers at this discussion.

Noted economist Dr. Sattar, in his keynote, mentioned as baseline tariff

currently there have flat 10% across all imports which is shocking.

He said the variable tariff rates applied to top 60 trading partners and

higher tariffs imposed on nations considered "Worst Trade Offenders". US

Tariff on China 30% & China Tariff on US is 10% while 25% for Canada and

Mexico.

Suggesting to go for negotiation strategy, he said engaging U.S. to

reduce tariffs on key U.S. export items like agri-products, machinery,

autos, he said focusing on low-revenue items (cotton, scrap metal

tariffs already near-zero), MFN basis and lower own tariffs on non-RMG

items (e.g. footwear) to reduce anti-export bias

He mentioned that the trade diversion could benefit Bangladesh due to

China’s tariff burden (54%) while there will be risk of global GDP

shrinking by 1%, trade by 3%; Asia particularly vulnerable

In terms of RMG sector actions, Dr. Zaidi Sattar suggested collaborate

with buyers to share increased costs mentioning that limited bargaining

power makes price adjustment critical.

Citing that the China and US are the two largest economies in the world,

he said that the US, at $26 Tr, commands a quarter of world GDP while

China is next, with $16 Tr. The two make up over 40% of world GDP. The

two are also the largest trading economies in the world; 33% of world

trade; China the largest exporter, US the largest importer.

Professor Mustafizur Rahman, Distinguished Fellow, CPD, suggested

stressed strengthening negotiating capacity, mentioning that we can sign

Free Trade Agreement (FTA) or Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) with US

but it will not be so easy.

“US Tariff is called reciprocal but in fact it is irrational and

one-sided. We need to bring the tariff issue in the TICFA platform but

we are not still ready for that”, Mostafiz added.

Addressing as the session chair, IBFB President Lutfunnisa Saudia Khan

said the USA is a major trade partner of Bangladesh, especially as a

leading market for our exports mainly in the Ready Made Garments (RMG)

sector.

She said the suspension of GSP benefits and the rise of protectionist

policies in recent years have impacted  our competitiveness in key

sectors like garments, leather and light manufacturing-hurting export

performance, slowing job growth and affecting investor sentiment.

BIISS Research Director Dr Mahfuz Kabir said TICFA is the proper

platform to discuss the issue and begin negotiating process.


“I believe that signing agreements like IPF or FTA will not be effective


“, he added.

Chairman of the Governmental Relation and Advocacy Committee of IBFB,

M.S. Siddiqui moderated the roundtable discussion while representatives

from different chambers and trade bodies and business leaders

participated in the open discussion session.