Bangladesh has lost the last ray of hope to get back the United States’ generalized system of preference (GSP) for exports as the US has renewed trade preferences for 122 countries excluding Bangladesh until 2017. The government will not take any more initiative to pursue Washington for reinstating the trade privileges for Bangladesh in the US market, suspended since June 2013, according to Bangladesh’s Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed. “I am not interested at all to take any initiative to review the US move on GSP, but I hope the US will consider the status to Bangladesh in the upcoming Ticfa meeting,” he said at a press conference held at his office in Dhaka on Tuesday. “Many countries do not want the rise of Bangladesh. Even Pakistan, where the human rights are continuously flouted and working condition is bad, has been provided with the GSP facilities,” said the commerce minister, adding that only political reason led the US not to reinstate GSP facilities for Bangladesh though Bangladesh has fulfilled almost all the conditions set by the US. Tofail said except US, majority of the developed and developing countries are giving duty-free benefit to Bangladesh’s apparel items. According to a notice posted by the US Customs and Border Protection, US President Barack Obama on June 29 signed the Trade Preferences Extension Act authorising for 122 states. The countries, however, will get trade benefits retroactive to July 31, 2013 as the earlier legal authorization for duty-free treatment for all countries under GSP expired on July 31, 2013. The Obama administration suspended GSP for Bangladesh in June 2013 following two industrial disasters – Tazreen Fashions fire and Rana Plaza building collapse, which left more than thousand people dead. The US cited serious shortcomings in labour rights and workplace safety. An interagency review led by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) had observed that while Bangladesh made progress over the lasyear to address fire and building safety issues in the garment sector, further progress is needed to get back the GSP. The US companies are losing $2 million a day since the suspension of the scheme for all countries, according to American Apparel and Footwear Association. In the 2013-14 fiscal year, Bangladesh exported goods worth more than $5.58 billion to the US, with 95 percent of them being garment products, which were subjected to 15.61 percent duty.
