Bangladesh seeks duty-free access to US for garments made of American cotton

The BGMEA sends letters to the US ambassador, the governor of Texas, and the US senator from Texas

Bangladesh's leading association of readymade garments has sought duty-free access to the US to export their products, made of cotton imported from the US.

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, or BGMEA, made the request by sending an official letter addressing Peter Haas, the US ambassador to Bangladesh.

Two separate letters with similar wording were issued to be delivered to Greg Abbott, the Republican governor of the US state of Texas, and to Ted Cruz, the firebrand Republican junior senator elected to represent Texas at the US Senate.

According to data published by Statista, a leading global consumer data provider, Texas is the top cotton producer among the US states.

Mentioning that Bangladesh provides duty-free access to overseas cotton growers to export their products to the country, the letters, signed by BGMEA President Faruque Hassan, argued that the US importers of the Bangladeshi garments could save at least $1.55 billion if the country allows duty-free access of products from Bangladesh made of US cotton.

In 2022, Bangladesh imported 409 million pounds of cotton to the US, reads the letter.

BGMEA data also revealed that the US imported $9.74 billion of apparel, including $6.91 billion or 71 percent made of cotton, from Bangladesh in 2022.

The letter argued that since 71 percent of the clothing products US importers purchase from Bangladesh is cotton-made, the duty-free access would allow the US importers to purchase more clothing from Bangladesh, which already has 14.54 percent share of the imported apparel market in the US.