Bangladesh is looking forward to signing a Free Trade Area (FTA) with the US. Bangladesh hopes to benefit from the FTA. Readymade garment products made in Bangladesh currently attract a 15 per cent duty on an average in order to enter the US market. Because Bangladesh only imports capital machinery from the US, whose duty are comparatively low, by signing an FTA, the benefits which Bangladesh will be gaining will be obviously more.

Bangladesh has failed to get back the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) facility from the US. GSP was suspended for Bangladesh in 2013 during the Rana Plaza collapse. After that, various human rights and safety issues have become a barrier in the relationship between Bangladesh and the USA. Bangladesh was confident significant progress had been made regarding workplace safety and workers’ rights. It tried convincing US decision makers that any previous worries should no longer prevent new trading ventures being created. The US remains Bangladesh’s largest export market. Bangladesh's exports to the US have doubled in the last ten years.

GSP is a US trade initiative designed to stimulate growth in emerging economies. This is achieved by offering duty free exports. Over the years, a number of countries have been suspended from GSP as they have failed to maintain GSP requirements. In most cases, countries regain their status once they take steps to address the issues.