Trump’s tariffs could reduce apparel exports to US by $1.25bn, says RAPID

Bangladeshi exports could fall by about 14 percent, the organisation says

The Research and Policy Integration for Development (RAPID) Chairman MA Razzaque has warned that Bangladesh's earnings from garment exports could be reduced by $1.25 billion due to the additional supplementary tariffs imposed by the Donald Trump administration on goods entering the US.

He presented these calculations at a workshop organised at the Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP) auditorium in Dhaka on Tuesday.

Speaking at the workshop on “US counter-tariffs and concerns and opportunities of transitioning from Least Developed Country (LDC) to Developing Country”, economist Razzaque said: “If the reciprocal tariffs are implemented, the amount of ready-made garments imported by the US will fall by 12 percent this year.

“If we assume that before the reciprocal tariff, the US imported ready-made garments worth $80 billion to $84 billion, a 12 percent decline would reduce total imports by around $10 billion.

“In Bangladesh’s case, exports could fall by approximately 14 percent.”

He estimated that Bangladesh’s ready-made garment sector exports to the US market could fall by about $1.25 billion.