Imports from the US have more than doubled in the first four months of the year, as Bangladesh scrambles to shrink the bilateral trade deficit.
Bangladesh imported goods worth Tk 19,104 crore from the US during January-April, up 101 percent from Tk 9,535 crore a year earlier, according to National Board of Revenue (NBR) data.
Exports to the US in the same period grew by just 3.32 percent to Tk 35,462 crore.
State-owned oil, gas, and minerals corporation Petrobangla, the Directorate General of Food (DG Food), and national flag carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines accounted for 38 percent of the sum.
Market insiders said the surge in imports reflects commitments made by the interim government to narrow the trade gap during negotiations for the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) with the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR).
Talks on the deal began mid‑2025, and the ART was signed on February 9, only three days before the national election.
“Concerns over an agreement signed shortly before the national election are quite natural,” said Muinul Islam, former economics professor at the Chittagong University.
However, doubt shrouds the future of the deal as the US Supreme Court scrapped President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs on February 20.
Malaysia, which had also signed an ART with the US, declared the deal “null and void” on March 16.
Following the ruling, Trump imposed a 10 percent tariff under the Trade Act of 1974, and raised it to 15 percent the next day.
But on May 7, a specialised federal court in New York ruled the law could only be applied if the US faced “large and serious” balance of payments deficits, which it said was not the case.
Under the ART, Bangladesh agreed to remove customs, supplementary, and regulatory duties on about 4,500 US products, one of its largest tariff reduction measures in recent years. Duties on another 2,210 items will be phased out gradually.
In return, the US withdrew retaliatory tariffs on 1,638 Bangladeshi products, including fibres, iron, steel, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and apparel made from US cotton. However, most‑favoured‑nation (MFN) duties averaging 16–17 percent remain.
The USTR also reduced the reciprocal tariff on Bangladeshi exports further by one percentage point to 19 percent. Initially, in April last year, the US had announced a 37 percent tariff on imports from Bangladesh, citing trade gap.
Legal formalities for ART implementation are still pending, yet the government has begun commercial commitments outlined in the deal.
Last month, Biman signed a $3.7 billion agreement with Boeing to purchase 14 aircraft.
From what has been disclosed so far, Bangladesh’s gains appear limited, while the US stands to benefit much more, Prof Muinul said.
Besides tariff cuts, the agreement included minimum annual import commitments for agricultural goods, fuel, and industrial raw materials.
“As a result, Bangladesh may have to import certain products even when domestic demand is low or prices are higher, suggesting that Bangladesh’s interests received less priority in the agreement,” he added.
NBR data show 83 percent of Bangladesh’s US import expenditure during January-April was concentrated in 10 products worth Tk 15,884 crore: liquefied natural gas (LNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), soybean, wheat, cotton, iron and steel scrap, soybean oilcake and meal, aircraft engines, brewing waste, and liquefied propane.
LNG topped the list at Tk 4,913 crore, purchased by Petrobangla. LPG followed at Tk 3,105 crore, led by Omera Petroleum (Tk 684 crore), Sun Gas (Tk 507 crore) and United Aygaz LPG (Tk 442 crore).
Bangladesh had not imported any LNG or LPG from the US a year earlier.
Bangladesh also imported American wheat worth Tk 1,797 crore in the four-month period after no purchase of the grain from the US a year earlier. The DG Food accounted for Tk 1,670 crore of the wheat import.
Imports of US cotton, vital for the garment sector, increased by 44.6 percent year‑on‑year to Tk 1,080 crore.
Aircraft engine imports also saw one of the sharpest jumps, from Tk 137 crore to Tk 1,852 crore.
However, some major products saw declines.
Soybean oil imports from the US fell to Tk 3,240 crore from Tk 3,329 crore, while iron and steel scrap imports dropped to Tk 704 crore from Tk 1,462 crore.
Sonargaon Seeds Crushing Mills imported soybean and soybean seeds worth Tk 1,036 crore. Delta Agrofood Industries’ imports stood at Tk 867 crore and Jamuna Spacetech Joint Venture Tk 811 crore.
M Masrur Reaz, chairman and CEO of a private think tank Policy Exchange, said, “The US had used higher tariffs as leverage to push countries into trade agreements aimed at increasing American exports.”
“As the US is Bangladesh’s largest export destination, Dhaka had to assure Washington that those commitments would be implemented, leading to higher imports by both government and private sector entities.”
He noted that most imported products were essential commodities, including fuel, wheat, soybean, and aircraft parts. “We previously sourced many of these items from other countries but are now importing them from the US. So, there is undoubtedly an impact of the agreement,” he added.
