Press Minister of the Bangladesh Embassy in Washington, Golam Mortoza, stated in a Facebook post on Wednesday night that the first day of the second round of Bangladesh–United States negotiations on tariff issues has concluded. He noted that discussions will continue over the next two days and that both sides have reached broad consensus on most points. However, he added that no formal statement on tariff outcomes can be made at this stage.
The initial day of talks was held on Wednesday (9 July) in Washington, led by Bangladesh’s Commerce Adviser Sheikh Bashiruddin. Participating virtually from Dhaka were National Security Adviser Dr. Khalilur Rahman and Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser Fayez Ahmed Tayyeb.
Commerce Secretary Mahbubur Rahman and Additional Secretary Dr. Naznin Kauser Chowdhury also joined the in-person negotiations after arriving in Washington that morning.
The meeting with officials from the United States Trade Representative (USTR) focused on finalizing a draft bilateral trade agreement that could potentially exempt Bangladesh from the proposed 35% tariff.
Meanwhile, on Thursday (10 July), Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam posted on Facebook that the next round of talks will resume at 9:00 p.m. local time in Washington, with negotiations continuing into Friday.