Bangladesh gets privileges in tariff issue due to Dr Yunus's connections: Press Secretary

Bangladesh has received special privileges in the tariff issue due to the personal connections of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus in the US, Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam said.

He said this at a roundtable discussion titled 'Bangladesh's position and challenges in the US tariff issue' at the Daily Star Bhaban in the capital on Saturday (August 23).

Shafiqul Alam said the interim government was confident of reducing the tariff to 20 percent and would try to reduce the tariff further in the future. Trade relations with the US will be strengthened and exports will increase.

He said that the negotiations were held keeping in mind the impact on other markets. Bangladesh's economy will be strengthened by increasing exports to the US.

He alleged that some intelligent people tried to fish in murky waters on the tariff issue, but they were not successful.

He said: "The biggest challenge before the interim government was this tariff. Bangladesh was able to make a profitable agreement with the United States through various rounds of discussions and negotiations."

Regarding foreign investment, the press secretary said: "Many investors complain about the efficiency of the Chattagram port. If the port's efficiency cannot be increased, foreign investment will not come here. We want to take the port to the level of Singapore. But many people raise the issue of sovereignty over foreign operators. The idea is to keep such a country as a bonsai. Earlier, there was no single-door service in BIDA. Now, efforts are being made to introduce a single-door service in the true sense."

Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, a teacher at Dhaka University, believes that the government should have discussed the US counter-tariff with political parties.

He said that discussions could have been held with political parties even before the budget was formulated. Then, the issues of reform would have come to the fore.

He demanded a clear position of the government on the LDC (Least Developed Country) transition.

The roundtable discussion was organized by Brain and moderated by Rubaiyat Sarwar, Director of Innovision Consulting. It was attended by businessmen, economists and other guests.

Initially, the US imposed a 35 percent counter-tariff on Bangladeshi goods, which was reduced to 20 percent by the Trump administration on July 31.