[🇧🇩] Trump's Victory/Tariff/ Bangladesh

[Saif]

Undeterred Trump opts for more aggressive tariffs

With the US Supreme Court (SC) upholding the lower court ruling that the reciprocal tariffs President Trump imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) is illegal, its fallouts were supposed to be sobering enough to dissipate the turmoil in global trade the tariff policy c

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Undeterred Trump opts for more aggressive tariffs

Neil Ray
Published :
Feb 22, 2026 23:12
Updated :
Feb 22, 2026 23:12

With the US Supreme Court (SC) upholding the lower court ruling that the reciprocal tariffs President Trump imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) is illegal, its fallouts were supposed to be sobering enough to dissipate the turmoil in global trade the tariff policy caused. But when a man of Trump's ilk is in the White House, it would be too much to expect. No sooner had the US SC ruled the use of the president's executive power under the IEEPA illegal, than he announced imposition of 10 per cent global tariff under the Trade Act of 1974. Even this decision was changed within hours to raise the rate of tariff to 15 per cent. What is most worrying is the fact that the new tariff rate will come into effect from tomorrow.

The question now is, after the ruling of the US court, will the agreements signed earlier with different countries including Bangladesh remain valid or not? Since Trump has called the SC ruling 'a disgrace' because, according to him, foreign interests have given priority to that of America and he has invoked other laws to protect his 'America First' policy, the trade agreements the US signed with other countries have become null and void. Naturally, the same should happen to the agreement signed between the US and the interim government only three days before the election.

Before aggressive tariff war launched by Donald Trump, the average tariff rate on Bangladeshi products exported to America was 15 per cent. However apparel exports faced duties starting from zero per cent to over 32 per cent. If the new countervailing tariff rate is imposed from tomorrow, the average duty rate will be 30 per cent. But what the duty rate would be for specific goods such as readymade garment is yet to be known. In the just struck down agreement reached between US and Bangladesh, there was provision to the effect that apparels made from cotton imported from America would enjoy duty-free access to that country. If this privileged option is retained, Bangladesh is unlikely to suffer much as the RMG export fetches 82-84 per cent of the total revenue earned by the country.

Experts in Europe claim that the latest decision to use the 1974 Trade Act by Trump will also be brought under court scrutiny. What happens then can have its bearing on the global trade. Meanwhile, another question raised by trade experts is worth noting. This is the fate of the duty already paid according to the terms and conditions of the agreements enforced under the IEEPA. Will the money be refunded to the US importers and the exporters of the source countries?

Trump and his treasury secretary are buoyant that the use of sections of the 1974 Trade Act for enacting the new tariffs "will result in virtually unchanged tariff revenue in 2026". Well, that may be to the advantage of America but small countries like Bangladesh may have to bear the brunt if the difference is on the higher side by just five per cent. If it is 15 per cent higher, the rate would be unaffordable for Bangladesh.

Here is a US president who is hell-bent on carrying out any programme he once sets his eyes on. However, the irony is that many of his executive orders somehow could not be implemented because of a lack of congress and senate support. There lies the beauty of check and balance in democracy. Unfortunately, this does not happen all the time. The presidential prerogative prevails and insanity gets the better of rationality.

Now the question of refund process has been dismissed by Trump. But what if the SC rules that the duty US importers paid has to be repaid! In that case, Trump indicated, "We'll end up being in court for the next five years". This is exactly how he wants to stall payment of the already realised duty. This shows how desperate the US president is to go about the business of protecting his country's interests. Let the rest of the world suffer but America must stand tall and unscathed. Such a partisan view is against the cooperative and collaborative spirit that has helped maintain a kind of global order and peace following the World War II.​

 

[Saif]

New US tariffs come in at lower 10pc rate

The United States imposed a new tariff from Tuesday of 10 percent on all goods not covered by exemptions, the US Customs and Border Protection said, the rate first announced by President Donald Trump on Friday rather than the 15 percent he promised a day later. Reacting to the US Supreme Court rul

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

New US tariffs come in at lower 10pc rate

REUTERS
Published :
Feb 24, 2026 20:42
Updated :
Feb 24, 2026 20:42

The United States imposed a new tariff from Tuesday of 10 percent on all goods not covered by exemptions, the US Customs and Border Protection said, the rate first announced by President Donald Trump on Friday rather than the 15 percent he promised a day later.

Reacting to the US Supreme Court ruling that threw out tariffs it deemed were illegally justified on grounds of an emergency, Trump initially announced a new temporary global tariff of 10%. He said on Saturday he would increase it to 15 percent.

But in a notice described as intended to “provide guidance regarding the Feb 20, 2026 Presidential Proclamation,” CBP said that, aside from products covered by exemptions, imports would “be subject to an additional ad valorem rate of 10 percent.”

UNCLEAR WHY LOWER RATE IS IMPOSED

The move added to confusion surrounding US trade policy, with no explanation offered in the notice for why the lower rate had been used. The Financial Times quoted a White House official as saying the increase up to 15 percent would come later. Reuters could not immediately confirm this.

“Remember that Trump is delivering the State of the Union address tonight, so it’s possible we might get a better sense of the next steps on tariffs,” Deutsche Bank said in a note.

“Net-net we still think the effective tariff rate will fall this year and that the world post-SCOTUS will see lower tariffs than the pre-SCOTUS world,” its analysts said, using the acronym for the Supreme Court of the US.

Despite the fact that a 10 percent tariff is less punitive than had been expected, traders cited uncertainty about the trade outlook as one reason why European shares opened lower on Tuesday, although the pan-European STOXX 600 index was later trading flat.

The new tariffs took effect at midnight, while collection of the tariffs annulled by the Supreme Court was halted. They had ranged from 10 percent to as much as 50 percent.

It remains unclear whether and how companies will be refunded for tariff payments made under the regime annulled by the Supreme Court.

The Section 122 law allows the president to impose the new duties for up to 150 days to address “large and serious” balance-of-payments deficits and “fundamental international payments problems.”

Trump’s tariff order argued that a serious balance-of-payments deficit existed in the form of a $1.2 trillion annual US goods trade deficit, a current account deficit of 4 percent of GDP and a reversal of the US primary income surplus.

TRUMP WARNS AGAINST RENEGING ON TRADE DEALS

On Monday Trump warned countries against backing away from any previously negotiated trade deals with the US, warning he would hit them with much higher duties under different laws.

Japan said it had asked the United States to ensure its treatment under a new tariff regime would be as favourable as in an existing agreement. The European Union, Britain and Taiwan all indicated a preference to stick to their deals too.

Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro at ING, noted that even with the 150-day limit of the current set of measures, the trade uncertainty was unlikely to go away soon.

“Because the next thing that he (Trump) could do is always, with the interruption of one day, theoretically endlessly extend by 150 days,” he said.

China meanwhile urged Washington to abandon its “unilateral tariffs”, indicating it was willing to hold another round of trade talks with the world’s largest economy, the country’s commerce ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.​