At a roundtable conference organized by Bangladesh Embassy in Washington DC, Bangladesh garment makers urged US buyers to reduce tariffs on apparel exports from the country. Faruque Hassan, President, BGMEA, emphasized on the need for smoother and more sustainable supply chain and sourcing, and requested buyers to minimize multiple auditing of the factories to reduce costs for the factory owners.

BGMEA leaders briefed the US government and relevant stakeholders on the ongoing efforts to improve factory safety and workers' welfare in the readymade garment industry in Bangladesh and urged it to increase imports of Bangladesh RMG items. the US currently imports RMG products worth around $6 billion from Bangladesh. It suspended Bangladesh from GSP in June 2013 following the Rana Plaza collapse in 2013. Bangladesh has been urging the US to restore the Generalized System of Preferences but is yet to get a response on this. Meanwhile, RMG makers have been demanding fair prices and a reduction in tariff costs.