Hope of getting duty-free access to US mkt fading

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Nazmul Ahsan Bangladesh's hope to have duty-free access to the US market is unlikely to be met anytime soon, diplomatic sources said. The much talked-about New Partnership for Trade Development Act (NPTDA) that seeks to duty-free and quota-free access for non-AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity Act) LDCs to the US market and outlines simplification of the existing US-GSP rules of origin, has expired while being examined by the 'Ways and Means' committee of the US House of Representatives. The fate of another bill that proposes duty-free market access for Asian-Pacific LDCs has also become uncertain. Unemployment problems, economic recession and ongoing political gridlock in Washington are some of the major reasons that have made the prospect of duty-free access to US market bleak. The latest state of affairs had been communicated last week by Bangladesh Embassy in Washington to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) in Dhaka. "A good number of members of the House and the Senate was accosted by me to help passage of the bill styled 'NPTDA', 2009 tabled by Congressman Jim McDermott. Unfortunately it expired while being examined in the 'Ways and Means' Committee of the House of Representatives as the USA remained obsessed with its own domestic unemployment problems and economic recessions," reads a communication sent by the embassy to Dhaka. The communication further said the fate of another bill that proposes duty free market access for Asia-Pacific Least Developed Countries (LDCs) has also become uncertain. "Senator Diane Feinstein rekindled our hopes by placing a bill at the Senate that proposed duty-free market access of all products from Asia-Pacific LDCs. Currently the bill is under consideration of the Senate Finance Committee. Judging by the mood at the Capitol and given the ongoing political gridlock in Washington our hopes are most likely to get dented again as the administration is seemingly reluctant to offer any meaningful market access to the Asian LDCs," the communication reads. The official letter, a copy of which has been obtained by the FE, said the US is rather interested to extend preferential trading facility to African countries, and not to Bangladesh and other LDCs of Asia-Pacific region. Senator Mc Dermott introduced the NPTDA bill in the US House of Representatives in November, 2009 to offer improved duty-free facilities to 15 least developed countries (LDCs) including Bangladesh. Imports from Bangladesh by the USA in 2010 were above $4.0 billion, of which 90 per cent were apparel items. Only about one per cent of these exports enjoyed duty-free preferential access under the existing US-GSP scheme. The average duty rate for the remaining 99 per cent was 15.2 per cent, sources in the Export Promotion Bureau said. A senior diplomat in the MoFA said the US textile lobby has long been opposing any move to offer duty-free market access for Bangladesh fearing loss in their trade in local market. He said more than a dozen US textile organisations and another 45 trade associations of South and North American, African and Middle Eastern countries recently opposed the move to grant duty-free facility to Bangladesh. The organisations have recently urged the US Congress to exclude Bangladesh and Cambodia from the beneficiary-list of the bill. They have expressed their concern in writing to the Committee on Ways and Means, sources said. Asked, a trade diplomat in the Ministry of Commerce said they are not interested in appointing any lobbyist firm to persuade the US administration for duty-free facility as getting such facility bilaterally is now almost impossible during the current recessionary period.