A day after U.S. President Donald Trump’s team met with top Mexican officials, Mexico has threatened to retaliate if the United States imposed a border tax. On Friday, Trump vowed to start building the border wall “soon, way ahead of…
Category: Trade
US protectionist border tax plan likely WTO-illegal
Penang, (Martin Khor) – A new US tax plan, being considered by Congressional Republican leaders and the President of the United States, is likely to be violative of the fundamental principles of the World Trade Organisation and its agreements, and…
Major industrial nations seek strong IPR framework at WTO
Geneva (D. Ravi Kanth) – Major developed countries have called for tightening the intellectual property framework at the World Trade Organization to ensure that their micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are protected from sharing technologies, according to a proposal…
Saudi bans importing live birds and hatching eggs from Bangladesh
Saudi Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, announced on Wednesday a temporary ban on the import of live birds and hatching eggs from Bangladesh. This came following official reports by the World Organisation for Animal Health, OIE, confirming outbreak of…
Mexico ready to retaliate by hurting American corn farmers
Mexico is one of the top buyers of American corn in the world today. And Mexican senator Armando Rios Piter, who leads a congressional committee on foreign relations, says he will introduce a bill this week where Mexico will buy…
Trump under fire in Nordstrom Ivanka row
Democrats have condemned President Donald Trump’s tweet attacking a clothing retailer after it dropped a fashion line owned by his daughter.
DITF ends, Tk 243.44cr worth export orders received
The Dhaka International Trade Fair (DITF) 2017 ended with a record Tk 243.44 crore worth export orders. Besides, the businesspeople sold products worth Tk 113.53 crore in the 35-day long 22nd DITF, it was disclosed at the closing ceremony of…
Benapole land port on Bangla-India border closed after clash
Dhaka, Feb 4 – The export and import activities through Benapole land port remained suspended from Saturday morning following a clash among the truck drivers on the Indian side over maintaining serial.
Indonesia offers to supply LNG to Bangladesh
Indonesia today offered to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Bangladesh to meet its (Bangladesh) growing energy demand. The proposal came when Indonesian Ambassador to Bangladesh Iwan Wiranata-atmadja paid a farewell call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her Jatiya…
Mexican president cancels planned DC meeting with Trump
Mexico City, Jan 27 (AP/UNB) — Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto canceled a planned Tuesday meeting with President Donald J. Trump on Thursday, signaling a remarkable souring of relations between Washington and one of its most important international partners just…
Trump proposes 20% import tax, triggers row with Mexico
Washington, Jan 27 (AP/UNB) — Determined to wall off America’s border with Mexico, President Donald Trump triggered a diplomatic clash and a fresh fight over trade Thursday as the White House proposed a 20 percent tax on imports from the…
Wales Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce team in Dhaka
Dhaka, Jan 24 – A delegation of Wales Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce (WBCC) is now in the city on their third trade visit to Bangladesh to continue their efforts to ‘strengthen’ trade ties with Bangladesh, and highlight commercial opportunities presented…
Three-day smartphone and tab expo to begin in city January 26
Dhaka – A three-day smartphone and tab expo is going to start at Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC) from January 26.
Push to save Pacific Rim trade deal as US exits TPP pact
Sydney, Jan 24 (AP/UNB) — Several countries expressed hope Tuesday that the Trans-Pacific Partnership could be salvaged, after President Donald Trump’s decision on a U.S. withdrawal from the trade pact left its future in serious jeopardy.
Stop eviction without rehabilitation: CPB
Dhaka – Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) General Secretary Comrade Syed Abu Zafar Ahmed on Sunday demanded rehabilitation of hawkers before their eviction.
Food commodity prices fall for fifth year in a row, says FAO
Geneva (Kanaga Raja) — The prices of key food commodities fell for the fifth consecutive year in 2016, averaging 161.6 points for the year as a whole, a decline of 1.5 percent from the previous year, the UN Food and…
US companies in China feel ‘less welcome’
Beijing, Jan 18 (AP/UNB) — U.S. companies feel less welcome in China and some are shifting operations to other countries, a business group reported Wednesday, amid rising tension between President-elect Donald Trump and Beijing over trade.
PM’s Delhi visit likely to delay further
AKM Moinuddin, UNB Staff Writer Dhaka, Jan 18 – Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s New Delhi visit might be delayed further though officials from Dhaka and New Delhi are taking necessary preparations keeping February in mind. Indicating further delay, an official…
Japanese Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs in city
Dhaka – Japanese Parliamentary Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Shunsuke Takei arrived here on Monday on a short visit to Bangladesh.
Number of products ‘enjoying duty-free access hits 10,677’
Dhaka- Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed on Friday said the number of commodities enjoying duty-free access will reach 10,677 from the existing 4,648 following the latest Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (Apta) negotiation.
India prefers Mongla to set up SEZ: Envoy
Khulna – India has identified Mongla as one of the potential locations for establishing a special economic zone for Indian companies. “A feasibility study on Mongla SEZ is going on, and will be completed soon,” said Indian High Commissioner to…
Dhaka North City Corpn market fire tamed after 15 hrs
Dhaka – Firefighters tamed the fire that razed through the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Market on Tuesday afternoon after over 15 hours. A total of 23 firefighting units brought the blaze under control around 5:45pm, sources at the Fire…
Milk adulteration ring unearthed in northern BD district Bogra
Bogra – Detectives have unearthed a milk adulteration cartel at Sihipur in Sonatala upazila. Tipped off, a team of the Detective Branch (DB) of Bogra police held three members of the cartel along with some equipment from a house in…
APTA draft amendment to take Mongolia as member
The Cabinet on Monday approved the draft of the second amendment to the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA) incorporating Mongolia as the new member, raising the total number of its member countries to seven.The approval was given at the regular weekly…
Better competition protects cosumers, the poor: Unctad
Geneva — For trade to deliver the maximum benefits to the most people, we need better competition policies and stronger, more independent authorities, a senior UNCTAD official says. History has shown that market abuse is more likely when too few…
Petrobangla, Daewoo sign deal for deep sea gas exploration
Dhaka – Keeping an option for allowing export, state-owned Petrobangla signed an initial deal on Wednesday with Posco Daewoo International Corporation to award the deep sea gas block DS-12 in the Bay of Bengal for gas exploration. The final deal…
Bangladesh, India inland water transit meeting held
Dhaka – The 18th meeting of the Standing Committee on Protocol on Inland Water Transit & Trade (PIWTT) between India and Bangladesh was held on Tuesday in Dhaka. Additional Secretary of the Bangladesh’s Shipping Ministry Md. Rafiqul Islam and Chairman…
Rethinking trade policy and protectionism in the Trump era
By Martin Khor Penang (IPS) – What kind of trade policy will the United States have under President Donald Trump? This is a hot issue, as Trump has made unorthodox pronouncements on trade issues during and after the election campaign.…
Holey Artisan attack report submission deferred
A Dhaka court on Monday deferred submission of the investigation report in connection with the terror attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery on July 1.
Malaysia wants free trade with Bangladesh
Malaysia has urged Bangladesh to view Malaysia as gateway to Asean as a wider Asian market and get benefit from it through appropriate measures.”Businesses that adopt a regional strategy are the once likely to thrive in the region’s increasingly liberalised…