Finance Adviser Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed expressed his high optimism about achieving a much better result during the one-to-one negotiation meeting with the USTR in the US.
"After the meeting scheduled for Tuesday in the US (early morning in Bangladesh on Wednesday), we will be able to know about further developments on the tariff issue," he said, replying to reporters’ queries after chairing two separate meetings of the Advisers Council Committee on Economic Affairs and the Advisers Council Committee on Government Purchase at the Bangladesh Secretariat.
Dr Salehuddin said US President Donald J Trump has sent a letter to the chief adviser on the tariff issue, but the Bangladesh delegation will hold a meeting with the USTR. "Only then will we be able to know the matter in detail."
He said the US president has issued such letters to some 14 countries, and Bangladesh is one of them.
"The final tariff will be fixed in the one-to-one negotiation with the USTR. That's why we will have our meeting with them (USTR); the rate is not final yet," he told reporters.
Asked about Trump's plan to impose a 35 percent tariff on Bangladeshi goods, the Finance Adviser said the Bangladesh delegation is already there, headed by the commerce adviser, while the commerce secretary will be heading to the US on Tuesday.
Replying to a question, he said they are definitely hopeful of getting a better result from the meeting. "No matter what happens, we'll set our future course of action."
He informed that the last meeting between the Bangladesh and US sides was positive.
The finance adviser said that although the US president has sent a letter to the chief adviser, but the matter would be finalized through one-to-one negotiations.
Replying to another question on the reduction of a 26% US tariff on Vietnam, he said it is true that Bangladesh's trade deficit with the US is only around $5 billion, whereas Vietnam's trade deficit with the US is $125 billion.
He said the US has agreed to give concessions to Vietnam, but Bangladesh's trade deficit with the USA is relatively small.
"We're trying our best in this regard," he said, adding that such letters have so far been sent to 14 countries. "But we'll negotiate further."
On the operations of the NBR, he said revenue collection in the last fiscal year (FY25) was moderate and there was no significant gap.
In the current fiscal year, the finance adviser said the government is focusing on bringing positive changes to the system in consultation with businessmen to prevent revenue leakage.
"The potential in revenue collection is very high, but we often fail to utilize it properly," he added.
On inflation, the finance adviser said the good news is that food inflation dropped significantly last month, although rising inflation had been a major challenge for the country.
"And we are hopeful that the inflation will be on the declining trend in the coming months. The non-food inflation is gradually declining since there are so many sectors," he added.
The adviser informed that the day's meetings focused on the import of LNG, school shelters in Gaibandha and import of fertilizer.