Bangladesh offers to buy more US cotton, oil and gas 

Bangladesh has offered to increase imports of American cotton, oil and gas, aiming to leverage the move in trade negotiations with the Trump administration, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus told Nikkei Asia in an interview.

Noting that US President Donald Trump is seeking to reduce his country's trade deficit with individual partners, Yunus said that if the proposal is accepted, Bangladesh will divert similar imports from other countries to the US.

"For example, we buy a lot of cotton from Central Asia," he said. "Cotton from India, cotton from many other countries. We are now looking... why don't we buy it from the US, so (our) trade deficit (with the US) will go down very big," he added.

Yunus is currently in Japan on a four-day visit to attend the 30th Nikkei Forum: Future of Asia and to hold bilateral talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. The interview was conducted on the sidelines of the annual conference in Tokyo.

On April 2, the Trump administration threatened to impose higher tariffs on imports from dozens of countries, including Bangladesh, under its "reciprocal tariffs" policy.

Bangladesh's exports to the US already face a 15 percent tariff. Under the new tariff plan, an additional 37 percent duty may be imposed, raising the effective rate to 52 percent and posing a serious threat to Bangladesh's access to the US market.

In response, Yunus requested a three-month deferral of the new tariffs to allow time for bilateral engagement and review.

To help mitigate the impact of higher US tariffs, the National Board of Revenue is expected to propose zero import duties on an additional 100 items in the upcoming budget for fiscal year 2025-26. The move aims to boost bilateral trade and cushion the impact of rising costs on Bangladeshi exports to the American market.

According to Nikkei Asia, Bangladesh exported $6.8 billion worth of goods to the US and imported $2.5 billion worth of products from the US in the fiscal year through last June. Cotton accounted for $361 million of those imports.

As a major garment exporter, Bangladesh sources $7.9 billion worth of raw cotton, with some supplies coming from Central Asian countries such as Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Cotton made up 12.5 percent of the country's total imports in that fiscal year.

"Cotton producers in the US have become very good friends of ours," Yunus said, adding that they offer "some political access to the administration."