Washington offered Dhaka limited relief on garments—but won deep purchase pledges and wide regulatory concessions.
The Bangladesh–United States agreement is a reminder that America’s new tradecraft is transactional. Bangladesh secured a headline cut in its US reciprocal tariff to 19% (from 20%) and a mechanism for zero-tariff access on some apparel and textiles if they use US-origin cotton or man-made fibre.
In exchange, Bangladesh signed up to large, time-bound purchases: about $15bn of US energy over 15 years, $3.5bn of US agricultural goods within one year, and 700,000 tonnes of US wheat annually for five years. It also signalled intent to buy 14 Boeing aircraft.
The pact also pushes beyond tariffs into non-tariff disciplines—accepting US standards/certifications in areas such as safety and compliance—and into digital trade, where policy space tends to be most contested by developing economies.
For Dhaka, the prize is defensive: protect access to its largest single-country export market. For Washington, the gains are proactive: guaranteed demand for American farm output, energy, aircraft and industrial goods—plus rule-setting leverage that narrows Bangladesh’s regulatory autonomy.
Pakistan—and India—face a sharper competitive frontier in the US if Bangladesh ramps “US-input” product lines that qualify for zero tariffs. A second-order risk is in regional cotton/yarn trade: if Bangladeshi mills pivot sourcing toward US cotton to meet origin conditions, incumbent suppliers lose volume.
