Staff Reporter :
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) on Wednesday said that locally made apparel products enter in the US market by paying an average 16 per cent duty.
The apex trade body of the country’s apparel sector came up with the data a day after US Ambassador in Dhaka Dan W Mozena claimed that Bangladesh pays zero- tariff while exporting garments to the US market.
BGMEA in a statement, however, said Bangladesh’s apparel exports enjoy duty-free access to the European Union, Canada, Japan and Australian markets.
“US is the largest export market for the local apparels and Bangladesh exported apparels worth $4996.58 million to the market in fiscal 2012-2013, which was 23.22 per cent of the country’s total garments export,” said the BGMEA statement signed by its secretary Ehsanul Fattah.
It also claimed that in 2013, Bangladesh paid worth 15.62 per cent duty on apparel exports and it paid $ 828.42 million. The rate of duty was high for a LDC country like Bangladesh.
From the year 2009 to 2013, Bangladesh has provided $3.41 billion duties to the US treasury while exporting its garments to the country, it added.
“Bangladesh was proving highest duty among the top 15 apparel exporting countries in the US,” it said adding, ” It (US) slapped 8.38 per cent duty on Vietnam, 6.30 per cent on Indonesia, 3.57 on Turkey, 3.57 per cent on China, 2.97 per cent on Philippines, 2.49 per cent on Italy, 2.29 per cent on India, 1.79 per cent on Thailand, 1.77 per cent on Spain, 1.75 per cent on Japan 1.73 per cent on Taiwan, 1.61 per cent on Germany, 1.52 per cent on Hong Kong and 1.28 per cent on Austria while importing apparels from these countries.”
It also said that the US authorities have imposed 14.2 per cent duty on importing Bangladeshi cotton shirts, 20.5 per cent duty on man made fibre shirts, 12.7 per cent on baby garments (cotton), 22.2 per cent duty on synthetic baby garments, 9.0 per cent duty on cotton trousers, 13 per cent duty on synthetic trousers, and 32 per cent duty on woolen sweater.
“So, the claim of US Ambassador in Dhaka Dan W Mozena is not realistic,” said BGMEA.
