When Washington and Dhaka signed a reciprocal trade agreement in February, the headline was the ** per cent tariff, down from ** per cent. The key provision is the textile clause: a defined volume of Bangladeshi textile and apparel exports could enter the United States at a zero reciprocal tariff rate, linked to Bangladesh’s purchases of US-produced cotton and man-made-fibre inputs.
The provision changes the commercial logic of the deal. US input procurement can become part of the route to preferential market access. The July **** Section *** action subsequently extended the mechanism to Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia and Malaysia; Indonesia’s February agreement had separately included a similar mechanism.
