The economic arithmetic behind Bangladesh’s US trade deal

Trade agreements are instruments of leverage rather than moral documents and the proposed US–Bangladesh reciprocal trade agreement reflects that reality. Its clauses on agriculture, labour, digital trade and national security are demanding. Some are intrusive. But the correct way to judge this deal is by pure arithmetic. Bangladesh exports roughly $55 billion in goods a year. More than 80 per cent comes from ready-made garments. The United States alone absorbs close to $9–10 billion of those exports annually, making it Bangladesh’s single largest country market. Millions of jobs—directly and indirectly—depend on continued, stable access to American consumers. A tariff shock…