US trade deficit with Bangladesh persists despite multiple initiatives
The interim government pursued several initiatives to increase imports from the United States, aiming to reduce reciprocal tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump. As part of its efforts, Bangladesh has already imported several goods including wheat, corn, soybeans, and cotton. The country has also finalised deals to import additional products such as liquefied natural gas, aircraft, and machinery parts. Despite these measures, available data shows Bangladesh’s imports from the US did not rise last year. US trade deficit with Bangladesh has instead widened further over the period.
According to the US Census Bureau, Bangladesh imported goods worth $1.95 billion from the United States in the first ten months of 2025. Exports from Bangladesh to the US stood at $8.13 billion during the same period. This caused a US trade deficit of $6.17 billion over those ten months. That figure exceeds the deficit of $6.06 billion recorded over the full–year of 2024, which was itself higher than the $6.02 billion deficit recorded in 2023.
Analysts note that simply increasing imports from the United States is insufficient; Bangladesh must also ensure these purchases are formally recorded as bilateral trade. The complication arises because third–country companies often act as intermediaries in such transactions. For example, the contract for purchasing US wheat was signed with a Singaporean firm. Sector specialists say it is now the government’s responsibility to ensure goods imported through third–party intermediaries are recorded in the statistical ledger as trade directly between Bangladesh and the United States.
Commerce Adviser Sk Bashir Uddin, however, offered a different view to Bonik Barta. “US statistics follow the calendar year, while our mapping is based on the financial year,” he said. “Our analysis shows that since we entered trade talks, the trade deficit with the US has been declining. We aim to expand trade volume by reducing this deficit. We hope that if we secure preferential market access compared with competing countries, trade volume will rise. This would reduce the deficit for both sides, and both would benefit.”
After his re–election to a second term, President Trump imposed high reciprocal tariffs on imports from most countries. Under the “America First” policy, these tariffs were imposed on April 2 last year, targeting countries from which the US imports goods. Higher reciprocal tariffs at varying rates were applied to 57 countries worldwide. The additional duty on Bangladeshi goods was initially set at 37 percent. After several rounds of negotiations, this was reduced to 20 percent. A key condition of the reduction, however, was Bangladesh’s commitment to increase imports of US goods to help narrow the trade gap.
Bangladesh exports far more to the United States than it imports, creating a trade surplus for Dhaka and a corresponding deficit for Washington. To help meet conditions for narrowing this gap, the interim government pledged to import 700,000 tonnes of wheat a year from the US at competitive prices. Officials said this would total 3.5 million tonnes over five years. Nearly 200,000 tonnes of wheat were imported last year under this commitment. Cotton, corn, soybeans, and other goods were also imported from the United States during the same period.
Despite these purchases, imports from the US have not risen to the expected level, according to US Census Bureau data. The bureau’s figures show US exports to Bangladesh totalled $1.95 billion in the first ten months of 2025. Over the same period, US imports from Bangladesh reached $8.13 billion, creating a trade deficit of $6.17 billion for the United States. In 2024, the United States exported goods worth $2.29 billion to Bangladesh and imported goods worth $8.35 billion from Bangladesh. By that measure, the rate at which US imports from Bangladesh increased in 2025 did not match a similar rise in exports. Rather than narrowing, the United States’ trade deficit with Bangladesh widened further.
Asked whether this context risks a reinstatement of higher tariffs on Bangladesh, Mohammad Hatem, president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), told Bonik Barta, “Although the trade deficit appears to be growing, it’s unlikely to widen further. Exports to the US are now declining, while our imports will rise. Import agreements with the country have yet to be implemented. In addition to the government, some private companies have also signed agreements to import goods from the United States. The contracted goods haven’t yet arrived in Bangladesh. Garment exporters have also taken initiatives to increase cotton imports from the United States. Once the initiatives taken at both government and private levels are implemented, this trade deficit will narrow. But it may take another five to six months for this to become visible.”
According to National Board of Revenue (NBR) data, a large share of Bangladesh’s import bill is concentrated in a defined basket of commodities: liquefied natural gas (LNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), scrap iron (a key input for rods), clinker for the cement industry, unrefined soybean oil, fertiliser, raw sugar, cotton (the main input for textiles), wheat, palm oil, furnace oil, and diesel. China remains the largest source market for these imports.
From China, Bangladesh imports industrial machinery, chemicals, textile raw materials, electronic goods, and furniture. Most raw materials used in garment manufacturing in Bangladesh also come from Asia’s largest economy. Bangladesh in contrast exports only a marginal volume of goods to China, resulting in its largest bilateral trade gap. Just over one percent of Bangladesh’s total export earnings currently come from the Chinese market. From neighbouring India, last year’s major imports included food grains, spices, cotton, motor vehicles, sugar–related products, and fuel. Indonesia was the main source of palm oil, along with various spices and tyres.
Over the past year, the main imports from the United States have been steel raw materials, mineral fuels, oilseeds, cotton, and technology–intensive goods. Food items such as wheat, corn, and soybeans have now been added to that list. While LNG is imported under long–term contracts with Qatar and Oman, the government has begun importing the fuel at scale from the United States.
“The reciprocal tariff rates imposed by the United States on India and China are far higher than those on Bangladesh,” said Professor Mustafizur Rahman, distinguished fellow at the private research organisation Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD). He noted that despite the tariffs, Bangladesh’s apparel exports to the United States rose last year while shipments to Europe fell. “As a result, while efforts to boost imports from the United States are underway, it will be impossible to narrow this trade deficit overnight. We hope the government and Bangladeshi entrepreneurs will take initiatives to enhance their competitiveness and advance trade relations with the United States. Both countries will benefit in this case.”
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