Trump pushes trade, defence ties with Bangladesh as he congratulates new PM Tarique Rahman

Dhaka: US President Donald Trump on Thursday pushed for stronger trade and defence ties with Dhaka as he congratulated Bangladesh's new Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on assuming office.

In a letter released by Bangladesh's Foreign Ministry, Trump called Rahman to maintain momentum in the bilateral trade relations and take "decisive action" to complete defence pacts.

Rahman, 60, was sworn in as the 11th prime minister on Tuesday after leading his Bangladesh Nationalist Party to a forceful victory in the 13th Parliamentary polls held on February 12. He replaced interim government chief Muhammad Yunus.

In his letter, Trump said he looks forward to working with Rahman to make the US-Bangladesh relationship "stronger than ever before", and added that the US Ambassador to Bangladesh Brent Christensen has his "full confidence”.

"As you begin your term, I hope you will help me maintain the tremendous momentum in our trade relationship through the implementation of our Agreement on Reciprocal Trade, which benefits farmers and workers in both of our countries," Trump wrote.

"I also hope you will take decisive action to complete the routine defence agreements that would finally give your military access to high-end, American-made equipment - the best in the world!" he added.

A few days before the general elections, Dhaka and Washington signed a major reciprocal trade agreement reducing Bangladesh's tariff rate to 19 per cent, giving duty-free access for 2,500 Bangladeshi products, including garments made with US materials, particularly cotton.

The deal requires Bangladesh to lower tariffs on 7,132 US goods, increase military equipment purchases, import USD 15 billion in LNG, and limit defence imports from certain countries, targeting reduced Chinese influence.

The Yunus-led regime, under the deal, had ordered 25 Boeing aircraft, which could cost as high as USD 2.9 billion and committed to purchase USD 15 billion worth of energy products, primarily Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).

Officials said Bangladesh was exporting products in five major categories to the US, with readymade garments accounting for roughly 80 per cent of total exports, and others including leather items, home textiles, pharmaceuticals and frozen fish.

The deal also obligated Bangladesh to import US wheat, soybeans, cotton and corn.

Under the agreement, the South Asian nation would need to increase purchases of US military hardware, limit procurement from "certain other countries", apparently referring to China and Russia.

According to several economists and financial analysts, with Bangladesh's scanty export basket, the deals signed just before the election would require Dhaka to grant significant concessions, affecting its fiscal stability.

Economist and academic Anu Muhammad on Thursday questioned the interim government's eagerness to conclude a trade agreement with the US just ahead of the polls.

 “They (the Yunus regime) effectively tied Bangladesh’s hands and feet by signing the deals in this manner,” he told a discussion on Dhaka-US trade deals in the capital.

The deals were the outcome of key bilateral trade and tariff negotiations under a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA).

Experts say this is the first time in Bangladesh's history that such a formal and binding secretive agreement has been used for tariff negotiations.

Legal experts questioned the authority of an “unelected interim government” to make such crucial deals beyond its mandate and without consulting stakeholders.

“It created obligations without accountability,” financial analyst and economist Debapriya Bhattacharya said, while professor of economics Selim Raihan called the agreement “highly unequal,” “rushed,” and "potentially damaging" for Bangladesh’s sovereignty.