US Tariffs: Dr Yunus holds emergency meeting, give necessary directives

Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus on Saturday held an emergency meeting with top experts, advisers and officials, giving necessary directives to deal with the US tariff issue.

Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Taouhid Hossain, High Representative to CA Dr Khalilur Rahman, Chief Adviser's Special Envoy Lutfey Siddiqi and Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Ahsan H Mansur were, among others, present at the meeting held at State Guest House Jamuna to discuss the US tariff issue, CA’s Deputy Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad Majumder told UNB.

Earlier on April 3, CA’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam said their ongoing work with the US government is expected to help address the tariff issue.

The United States has announced a 37-percent tariff on imports from Bangladesh as part of President Donald Trump's sweeping new "Reciprocal Tariffs" policy.

"Bangladesh is reviewing its tariffs on products imported from the United States," said the Chief Adviser's Press Secretary.

He said the National Board of Revenue is identifying options to rationalise tariffs expeditiously, which is necessary to address the matter. "The United States is a close friend of Bangladesh and our largest export destination," Alam said.

The Press Secretary said they have been working with the US since the Trump Administration took over to enhance trade and investment cooperation between the two countries.

Bangladesh got slapped with a whopping 37%, Trump team's calculation being that the country imposes 74% tariffs on imports from the US that they then halved for many countries to arrive at ‘reciprocal’, because “we’re such nice people."

Currently, most Bangladeshi goods are subjected to a 15% tariff on entry into the US market.

The new rate is thus well over double the present rate.

The only consolation for Bangladesh might be that a number of its competitors fared worse.

Vietnam got slapped with 46%, Cambodia 49%, Sri Lanka 44%. India and Pakistan fared slightly better though, at 26% and 29% respectively.