Assistant US trade representative (USTR) for South and Central Asia Christopher Wilson and bangladesh commerce ministry’s senior secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh led the respective delegations at the meeting.
The topics discussed were removing fumigation requirement for imported US cotton, preferential access of Bangladesh products to the US market, production sharing of US cotton-based garments, trade and investment climate, intellectual property rights, technical cooperation for quality certification infrastructure and labour issues.
At the 6th meeting of the US-Bangladesh Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement held in Washington DC recently, Bangladesh proposed zero tariff on finished apparel products made with American cotton being exported to the United States. Bangladesh currently pays the highest tariff on its apparel products exported there compared to other nations.
Wilson agreed to continue further discussion on the proposal made by Bangladesh. The US side requested Dhaka to simplify the profit repatriation for US investments in Bangladesh.
Both sides agreed to hold the 7th TICFA Meeting in October next year in Dhaka.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
