We are doomed

Opinion

On July 31, the White House re-imposed a 20 percent reciprocal tariff on goods imported from Bangladesh. As part of Donald Trump’s new reciprocal tariff policy, tariffs were imposed on countries around the world with which the United States has a trade deficit on April 3. The 37 percent reciprocal tariff was imposed on Bangladesh. Since then, it has been re-imposed at 20 percent after several rounds of meetings and negotiations between representatives of the illegal interim government and US authorities over the past four months. As per US demands, Bangladesh had to sign secret agreements under the guise of a non-disclosure agreement, promising to import 25 Boeing aircraft, as well as long-term fuel, wheat and cotton.

Due to this new 20 percent reciprocal tariff, Bangladeshi exports to the US market will now have to pay 35 percent duty (previously an average of 15 percent). This means that despite the signing of the NDA or the promise of a large amount of unnecessary imports, the actual amount of duty on Bangladeshi products in the US market has doubled. Although the officials of the illegal interim government led by Dr. Yunus promoted the 15 percent tariff reduction as a huge diplomatic victory, statistics show that even after the 15 percent tax reduction, the effective duty on our main export product, ready-made garments, in the US stands at 36.5 percent, which is higher than that of our competing countries.

The main topic of today’s discussion is not reciprocal tariffs. This issue has already been widely discussed. Moreover, since reciprocal tariffs have been imposed on other countries as well, it was possible to deal with their economic impact commercially. But the NDA that was signed in the dark, keeping the people in the dark, just to reduce the tariff by 15 percent, should be the main topic of discussion. It is sad but true that none of the political figures, civil intellectuals or economists who once used to raise the complaint of country-selling on a daily basis, are seen raising their voices about it by holding meetings and rallies and heating up the streets.

The media has written about the purchase of 25 Boeing aircraft or the promise to purchase wheat and cotton as a condition for reducing tariffs. However, Sheikh Bashiruddin, the trade advisor to the illegal interim government, himself said in an interview with the media on July 2 that during the tariff discussions, the US authorities did not seem serious about purchasing 25 Boeing aircraft, but rather gave priority to their own national security issues!

In other words, it appears that the NDA that Bangladesh signed with the United States has incorporated security issues rather than trade issues. It is natural for the United States, as a state, to prioritize its own security issues, but has it protected Bangladesh’s interests? The answer is, no. Rather, it has literally destroyed the country’s sovereignty, economic and security decision-making ability, and neutral diplomatic position through a slave agreement.

Let’s try to find out what is in this Non-Disclosure Agreement. Naturally, neither Bangladesh nor the United States has made this agreement public, but various aspects of this agreement have already been revealed from various sources. The concern is that although the talks are actually aimed at reducing the trade deficit, all the potential and important sectors of Bangladesh have been included in this NDA. As a result, Bangladesh will become largely dependent on the United States for economic, commercial and security-related decision-making. Some important examples are mentioned below.

The agreement states that Bangladesh will have to reduce its military purchases from China and increase purchases from the United States. Although officially, the reduction in military purchases from China is only mentioned, the United States has strongly objected to any military purchases from China as well as Russia and Iran. However, 90 percent of the military equipment and weapons in the Bangladesh Army and Navy are imported from China and 80 percent of the Air Force are imported from China and Russia.

That is, our entire military capability is largely dependent on these two countries. Now, if military purchases from these two countries are limited or stopped as per the agreement, then undoubtedly both countries will also take strict action against us, which will greatly damage the capability of our military forces.

Besides the garment industry, another important growing export product of Bangladesh is the pharmaceutical industry. Medicines manufactured in Bangladesh are exported to about 150 countries around the world. The United States has also paid attention to this pharmaceutical industry. The agreement has asked Bangladesh to accept FDA (Food and Drug Administration) certification related to medicines and medical devices without any restrictions. At the same time, the condition has been given to remove all non-tariff barriers, including prior permission from the DGDA Authority of Bangladesh, in the export of all types of pharmaceutical products and devices manufactured in the United States to Bangladesh. Through this, the United States has basically paved the way for its sole dominance in the pharmaceutical industry and medical device market in Bangladesh.

Another emerging potential sector in Bangladesh is the shipbuilding industry. The market for this slowly growing industry has already exceeded $1 billion. Ships manufactured in Bangladesh are already being exported abroad to meet the country’s demand. The NDA has imposed conditions on the shipbuilding industry to follow US standards. However, the US is not a major stakeholder in the shipbuilding industry. Basically, the US shipbuilding industry has been in decline since 1975. The number of ships built in a typical shipyard in China every year is not the same as the number of ships built in the entire United States. After China, South Korea and Japan are in this sector. Technical assistance to the Bangladesh shipbuilding industry also comes from these three countries. By imposing conditions to follow US standards, this industry has basically been nipted in the bud. At the same time, a ban has been imposed on the use of logistics system logins made in China in ports, jetties and ships.

Bangladesh’s agricultural sector has not been left out either. Under the pretext of increasing exports of US agricultural products, Bangladesh has been given the condition to accept the certificates of various US regulatory agencies related to the agricultural sector without any words. In addition, it has been said that the dairy sector of Bangladesh should be upgraded to US standards. It has been said that any agricultural product produced in the US can be imported into Bangladesh without any prior permission. It has also been asked to accept the halal certificate issued by any US organization. That is, on the one hand, US standards have been imposed on Bangladeshi agricultural products, and on the other hand, arrangements have been made to create a market for branded agricultural products in Bangladesh without any hindrance. Undoubtedly, local traders will be harmed by this.

One of the most dangerous aspects of the NDA is the conditions imposed under the pretext of protecting workers’ rights. It has been said that only 20 percent of the workers will be allowed to form trade unions/organizations in any factory with the consent of the workers. It has even been instructed to form trade unions in EPZs. It has been said that the registration of workers’ organizations will be simplified and that the applications of all the workers’ organizations that have already applied will be disposed of as soon as possible. At the same time, it has been said that the number and power of labor inspectors will be increased, as well as the fines for factory owners will be increased to strictly implement the labor law. The owners of all other industries, including the garment industry in Bangladesh, will soon understand what the consequences of this are going to be.

Here are just a few important points. Apart from this, almost all the conditions given on intellectual property, environment, investment, service sector, etc. are either against the interests of Bangladesh or unhelpful in the context of Bangladesh. In this NDA, the United States has literally imposed many of the rules and regulations that it follows in any of its own states on Bangladesh. These conditions have been given to target every potential sector of Bangladesh and impose long-term control there. This agreement will not only make Bangladesh dependent on the United States in the long run, but will also destroy our neutral diplomatic position that has historically protected us. Therefore, it would not be an exaggeration to call this agreement a country-selling agreement. But alas, the traitor Yunus Gong did not even let the people know what a disaster they have been!

-Aminul Haque Palash
Former diplomat and security analyst