Trump administration’s decision unlikely to be postponed: Trade advisor
Trade Advisor Sheikh Bashiruddin has described the US President Donald Trump administration’s retaliatory tariffs as a hyper-dynamic story. He said there is no possibility of the Trump administration’s decision being postponed.
He made these comments to some journalists at the Secretariat after a meeting titled ‘Breakfast on Trade Barriers’ held with US Charge d’Affaires Tracey Ann Jacobson at her residence in Gulshan, Dhaka on Sunday morning. Industry Advisor Md. Adilur Rahman Khan, High Representative of the Principal Advisor Khalilur Rahman and Special Envoy of the Principal Advisor for International Affairs Lutfe Siddiqui were present at the meeting. In response to a question about how the meeting went, Sheikh Bashiruddin said, ‘It went well. We have got an idea of what those who have our kind of economy are following due to the imposition of counter-tariffs and what steps we can take.’
When asked if the US Charge d’Affaires had said anything, the trade advisor said, ‘They will not say anything officially. There have been discussions, we have received some guidelines. From this, we have tried to understand the process through which we will engage with the US administration. However, we tried to say yesterday that our chief advisor will do the main communication with the US government in this regard. And those of us who are in charge will do the rest by communicating with the other side.’ Trump administration’s decision
Sheikh Bashiruddin said, ‘We have tried to understand from the meeting what are the communication methods at our level, what are the aspirations, what are the tariff and non-tariff barriers and the areas where they are having problems while doing business. We want to do those things that are helpful for our economy. But those that are not helpful cannot be done, we have discussed it like this.’
If the effective date of the imposition of tariffs is April 9, then whatever needs to be done should be done within that time, the trade advisor said, ‘No. I have also tried to understand the issue of the 9th whether there is any possibility of suspension globally. They are saying that there is no such possibility.’
Sheikh Bashiruddin said that there is an idea circulating on social media that a suspension will come for some countries on the 9th. No such idea has been found. The thing is that this is a hyper dynamic story and it has had an impact on world trade. Let’s see, the Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is also taking steps in this regard.
