The Ministry of Commerce on 11 October, 2020 published a list of 8,256 Bangladeshi products that China recently exempted from tariffs.
The ministry published the list in English on its web portal, three months after the world’s second largest economy offered a zero tariff facility on 97% of items imported from Bangladesh.
Bangladesh has 8,549 products in its basket. Among them, China offered duty-free and quota free access to 8,256 products – including ready-made garments, fish, agricultural products, and agro-processing products – on 16 June this year.
According to the Chinese embassy, Bangladesh exported goods worth over USD 1 billion to China in 2019. Of them, textiles, clothing and accessories accounted for USD 590 million or about 57% of the total exports to China.
Apparel exporters said they have the potential to export more as production costs in China have increased significantly because of a hike in the minimum wage to around USD 300 – which is one-third of that amount in Bangladesh.
