United News of Bangladesh

Commerce Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir on Wednesday said the recently signed trade agreement between Bangladesh and the United States is not irreversible and there remains scope for amendment, addition or deletion of provisions if necessary. He said the deal contains elements that could help further strengthen bilateral trade ties in the future and should not be viewed as “wholesale negative” or “wholesale positive.” The minister made the remarks while talking to reporters after a meeting with US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Paul Kapur at the Commerce Ministry. He said the agreement was signed with the aim of expanding economic, trade and investment relations between the two countries. Referring to bilateral trade, the commerce minister said trade volume between Bangladesh and the United States exceeds $8.5 billion while Bangladesh imports goods worth nearly $2.75 billion from the US. As a single country, the US remains one of Bangladesh’s largest trading partners, he said. He said discussions also touched investment, digital infrastructure development and future economic cooperation, alongside trade. Responding to a question about whether the February 9 trade deal was discussed in detail at the meeting, he said it did not come up specifically. “The agreement was signed on the 9th. There was no separate discussion on it today,” he said. Large portion of workforce remains informal; Commerce Minister urges formalization Asked whether issues mentioned in a congratulatory letter from US President Donald Trump — including trade and defence-related matters — were discussed, the adviser said the trade deal was not a topic of discussion at the meeting and military issues do not fall under the Commerce Ministry’s jurisdiction. On allegations that Bangladesh’s interests were not adequately protected in the deal, he said any agreement involves two parties and typically contains provisions favourable to both sides. Responding to another question he said “If you find any problematic provision, you can raise it with us. No agreement is the end of life. Every agreement contains its own clauses for review and self-correction. If we find that any provision requires amendment or modification, there is always scope for further negotiation,” he said. He also urged all not to be overly concerned.