The Bangladesh government is likely to demand duty-free market access for its garments eports to the US, as local businesses have to pay exorbitant duty for exporting apparel items to America. The authorities are preparing the agenda to be placed at the 2nd meeting of Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement (TICFA) to be held in Washington in the month of May. TICFA is a platform to resolve trade-related disputes between the two countries through discussions.

Senior secretary in the commerce ministry, Hedayetullah Al Mamoon has informed that his country will start preparing the agenda for the meeting from next month. The aim is to increase exports to the US. Bangladesh is one of the top duty payers for garments to the US, it pays 15.61 per cent duty compared to competitors such as China (3.08 per cent), Vietnam (8.38 per cent), India (2.29 per cent), Turkey (3.57 per cent) and Indonesia (6.30 per cent).

As per Mamoon, his country will also highlight the progress made for ensuring workplace safety that was demanded by the US. As per commerce ministry statistics, Bangladesh exported goods worth $5.59 billion to the US in fiscal 2013-14.