Bangladesh seeks US duty-free access to its apparel produced from US cotton

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, or BGMEA, has sent an official letter addressing Peter Haas, the US ambassador to Bangladesh, with duty-free access to the US to export their products, made of cotton imported from the US.

Texas is the top cotton producer among the US states according to data published by Statista, a global consumer data provider.

The letters state that Bangladesh provides duty-free access to overseas cotton growers to export their products to the country. It said that the US importers of Bangladeshi garments could save at least $1.55 billion if the country allows duty-free access to products from Bangladesh made of US cotton.

Bangladesh in 2022 imported 409 million pounds of US cotton according to the letter. The BGMEA letter also pointed out that of the $9.74 billion apparel imported by the US from Bangladesh in 2022, .

91 billion or 71 percent of it was made of US cotton.

The letter stated that 71 percent of the clothing products US importers purchase from Bangladesh are cotton-made, the duty-free access would allow the US importers to purchase more clothing from Bangladesh, which already has a 14.



54 percent share of the imported apparel market in the US.

Similar letters were issued to Greg Abbott, the Republican governor of the US state of Texas, and to Ted Cruz, a firebrand Republican junior senator elected to represent Texas at the US Senate.