23-05-2025
BGMEA Seeks 3-Month Delay for India's Land Port Ban on Garment Exports
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has called on India to allow for a three-month reprieve on its abrupt ban on the entry of Bangladeshi garment exports via its land ports.
The association is urging Bangladesh's interim government to send a formal letter to the Indian government on their behalf, which would request for a three-month 'notification period' that would give ample time to clear the pending backlog of garments that are already set to be exported to India.
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Many India-bound shipments have been waiting to be unloaded at the land ports since Saturday, when the restrictions were put in place.
In an interview with Bangladesh publication The Daily Star, Asif Ashraf, a former vice president of the BGMEA, said exporters were not prepared for such a sudden ban, and are now concerned about financial impacts to their business on the shipping delays.
On Tuesday, Bangladesh's commerce ministry held an inter-ministerial meeting in Dhaka with stakeholders and government officials to discuss a response to India's restrictions.
'We will not take any retaliatory steps. They've taken this step, and we will engage with them,' Commerce Secretary Mahbubur Rahman told reporters after the meeting.
Rahman mentioned that a meeting at the secretary level between the two countries is being considered to resolve the issue.
'We will point out that not only Bangladeshi businesses are being affected, Indian businesses will also suffer. So, let's sit together and find a solution,' said Rahman. 'We have an established secretariat-level forum with India. Last week, we sent a letter requesting a meeting. Once we receive a response, we'll know when it can be held.'
According to the BGMEA, readymade garment (RMG) exports to India reached $563 million in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year. The association says 93 percent of the garments shipped from Bangladesh to India goes through land ports.
The move to block entry to RMGs, as well as limit other exports like processed foods, plastic goods and wooden furniture, will impact 42 percent of India's total inbound trade from Bangladesh, according to a report from New Delhi-based Global Trade Research Initiative.
The land port ban was an apparent escalation of a series of supply chain restrictions the countries have placed on each other in recent months.
In February, India implemented a 20 percent import tariff on nine varieties of knitted fabrics from Bangladesh.
Two months later, the country revoked Bangladesh's access to its transshipment services, which prevents Bangladeshi exporters from shipping cargo via Indian land borders and customs stations. That service, first established in 2020, allowed Bangladeshi businesses to use Indian airports and seaports to send goods to third countries. Bangladesh has since opened a new air cargo hub at one of its major airports to pick up the slack.
Bangladesh also put up some of its own supply chain barriers, clamping down on foreign imports of yarns via its land ports. Yarns can still be imported via seaports and airports, but textile mills had claimed the land ports didn't have the required infrastructure to properly vet raw materials. According to the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association, 95 percent of yarn imports come from India.
In April, other imports from India including rice were restricted through the land ports, while goods like paper, tobacco and powdered milk got banned outright.
Bangladesh's tit-for-tat with India comes as the south Asian country still is trying to maneuver through trade negotiations with the U.S. after the Trump administration's imposition of country-specific tariffs on April 2.
Both countries agreed in principle to start Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks this week, Rahman said.
Currently, Bangladesh has a 10-percent tariff placed on all goods it exports to the U.S., but that total could hike to 37 percent—or nearly 53 percent on apparel—if a new deal isn't reached by July 9.
As part of a potential deal, Bangladesh's government is considering removing import tariffs on about 100 products it brings in from the U.S. In accordance with World Trade Organization rules, the removal would apply to all countries Bangladesh imports from.
These products reportedly range from raw materials for readymade garments, as well as man-made fibers and wool. They would also include items like machinery, effluent treatment plants, dialysis filters, fire extinguishers and certain arms, according to a report from Bangladesh publication The Business Standard.
Officials from the National Board of Revenue (NBR) told the publication that the plans were discussed during a meeting with Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus ahead of the upcoming fiscal year budget.
In 2024, Bangladesh imported goods worth $2.2 billion from the U.S., while exporting $8.4 billion, making the U.S. Bangladesh's largest export market.
