Dhaka gets relief as Trump pushes tariff deadline to 1 Aug

Dhaka has found some relief after the United States extended the deadline for enforcing reciprocal tariffs on several countries, including Bangladesh, by three weeks to 1 August.

Commerce ministry officials say the extension provides valuable time to conclude ongoing tariff negotiations with the Trump administration through a formal agreement.

Meanwhile, the US has yet to provide Bangladesh with the documents listing the products for which it is seeking duty-free access, officials say.

"The documents had not been received as of 7 July afternoon," Commerce Secretary Mahbubur Rahman told The Business Standard.

As part of the ongoing negotiations over a draft deal, a meeting between Bangladeshi officials and representatives of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) was scheduled for today.

However, the USTR postponed the meeting, which is now likely to take place a day later, on 9 July, officials say.

On 2 April, the United States imposed reciprocal tariffs on several countries, including a 37% tariff on Bangladeshi goods. Later, it enforced an additional 10% tariff across the board while suspending the remaining tariffs for three months.

That suspension, originally set to expire on 9 July, has now been further extended.

"Tariffs go into effect 1 August, but the president is setting the rates and the deals right now," Donald Trump's commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick said on 6 July, reports the Guardian.

Donald Trump said the US is close to finalising several trade agreements in the coming days and will notify other countries of higher tariff rates by 9 July, dictating new tariff rates to be imposed on goods they sell to Americans.

"It could be 12, maybe 15," the president told reporters, "and we've made deals also, so we're going to have a combination of letters and some deals have been made."

"I think we'll have most countries done by July 9, yeah. Either a letter or a deal," he added.

'US developing separate tariff framework for LDCs'

According to commerce ministry officials, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus has directed the commerce secretary to travel to the US to directly take part in the ongoing negotiations with the USTR.

Although the secretary was scheduled to leave for the US today, the trip was delayed as Bangladesh had not yet received the proposed agreement documents from the USTR.

"In the 3 July meeting, there was an understanding that the documents would be sent. Once we receive them, Bangladesh will finalise its position within a day or two, and then I'll travel to the US," Mahbubur Rahman told TBS.

The commerce secretary further said the delay in document delivery may be linked to Washington's ongoing initiative to develop a separate tariff framework for Least Developed Countries (LDCs).