Bangladesh’s stock market shrugged off the imposition of 35% fresh tariffs by US President Donald Trump as key benchmark indices of the Dhaka Stock Exchange closed higher on Tuesday.
In his first set of letters to key trading partners, Trump announced levies on several Asian economies. While he announced 25% tariffs on goods from Japan and South Korea, rates for Bangladesh, Indonesia and Thailand are set at over 30%. However, the US president signed an executive order holding off the new duties until August 1, giving trading partners like Bangladesh to negotiate these agreements.
According to a Bloomberg report, Bangladesh will hold further negotiations with the United States to push for deeper tariff cuts, even as Trump slapped a 35% levy on goods from the South Asian nation. Officials are scheduled to hold crucial trade negotiations with the Trump administration from July 9-10 to seek a solution, Commerce Adviser to the interim government Sk. Bashir Uddin said in an interview from Washington, the Bloomberg report stated.
“We will give and try our best to find mutually win-win proposition,” he said, adding that the goal is to find a “common ground.”
Dhaka stock exchange
According to the data available on Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX index ended 0.11% higher at 4981.63. Meanwhile, DSES index closed 0.23% higher at 1083.75 and the DE30 index settled at 1875.38, up 0.127%. The gains follow a sharp rally of 1.5% to 2% seen in the indices in the previous trading session.
The DSE30 index has risen 3% this month, followed by a 5% rally in June.
The DSEX index has also seen a positive trend in July so far, gaining 2.85% building on 4.32% gains in June. However, prior to that, the index had declined for three straight months between March to May, shedding nearly 13% in value.
Disadvantage Bangladesh
In 2024, US goods imports from Bangladesh totalled $8.4 billion, up 1.1% from $89.3 million in 2023. The US goods trade deficit with Bangladesh was $6.2 billion in 2024, a 2% increase over 2023, according to the US Trade Representative website.
While the tariff on Bangladesh is slightly lower than the 37% proposed earlier, it still risks hurting the nation’s already fragile economy and its garment exports. The South Asian nation’s main rival in the ready-made garment sector, Vietnam, secured a more favourable 20% tariff, placing Bangladesh at a competitive disadvantage.
(With inputs from agencies)
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