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Bangladesh is preparing to sign a bilateral trade agreement with the United States this month that will impose a 20 percent supplementary tariff on Bangladeshi exports to the US market.

According to officials from both countries, the draft of the agreement is currently being prepared by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and is expected to be finalized within two to three weeks. The agreement will be signed following necessary revisions and mutual consent.

Commerce Advisor Sheikh Bashir Uddin confirmed that the agreement, though still under negotiation, is likely to be made public after approval from both governments. “After signing, the agreement will be published subject to the consent of the United States,” he said in an interview from Washington. “A joint statement may also be issued at that time.”

The revised tariff structure comes after three months of intense negotiations. The US agreed last week to lower the supplementary tariff from 35 percent to 20 percent, in addition to an existing average duty of 15 percent. This brings the effective combined tariff on Bangladeshi goods to approximately 35 percent, effective from August 7, 2025.

Golam Mortoza, Minister (Press Wing) at the Bangladesh Embassy in Washington, D.C., confirmed that finalization of the deal may take another two to three weeks. Once signed, the agreement will be formally notified to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The agreement reportedly covers a broad range of issues including tariffs and non-tariff barriers, trade facilitation for US products (notably automobiles), transparency in customs revenue, technology integration in trade, labor rights in the garment sector, intellectual property enforcement, 20 percent value addition to garments, timely wage payments, and trade union rights. Provisions related to national security and the US trade deficit are also included.

Although the full details remain confidential under a non-disclosure agreement, Advisor Bashir acknowledged that elements of the draft were leaked during the negotiation phase. “Unfortunately, the agreement was leaked, but there is nothing in it that compromises the national interest,” he said. “We’ve been careful to remove or revise any clause that could indirectly harm Bangladesh.”

The United States has justified the supplementary tariffs and the confidentiality clause on national security grounds. “National security was the main regulatory basis cited by the US for this agreement,” Bashir said.

To help offset the new tariff obligations, Bangladesh is expected to increase imports from the US, including wheat, liquefied natural gas (LNG), food grains, cotton, and soybean oil. Additionally, a potential purchase of 25 Boeing aircraft has been discussed, although Bashir noted this was not a formal part of the negotiation.

“They did not take the Boeing deal seriously in our discussions,” he said, adding that Boeing only produced 12 aircraft last year, and any new deliveries would not be possible before 2037 due to production constraints.

Instead, the United States reportedly showed more interest in expanding its agricultural and food exports to Bangladesh, which currently imports between $15 billion and $20 billion worth of such goods annually from global sources.

The trade agreement marks a significant shift in Bangladesh-US commercial relations and is expected to shape future trade dynamics between the two nations.