Bangladesh offers to buy Boeing planes to sway Trump on tariffs

While acknowledging that the aircraft would take years to be delivered, Bangladesh’s Commerce Secretary Mahbubur Rahman pointed to Indonesia’s commitment to purchase 50 Boeing jets as precedent

Bangladesh has offered to buy 25 jets from Boeing Co., using the recent US-Indonesia trade deal as a model, in hopes of persuading President Donald Trump to lower tariffs on the country.

“We have made commitments that are maintainable for us. The Boeing purchase is part of that,” Commerce Secretary Mahbubur Rahman said in an interview with Bloomberg News on Sunday, ahead of his departure to Washington. “If they compare our offer with others, we should get a better deal.”

Rahman will join a high-level delegation, led by Commerce Adviser Sk. Bashir Uddin, that is scheduled to meet officials from the US Trade Representative on July 29-31. The talks come just days before a new tariff structure takes effect on Aug. 1.

While acknowledging that the aircraft would take years to be delivered, Rahman pointed to Indonesia’s commitment to purchase 50 Boeing jets as precedent. “We’re offering a serious package,” he said.

Earlier this month, Trump imposed a 35% tariff on goods from Bangladesh, a key garment supplier to the US. The South Asian nation is now seeking a lower rate, closer to those granted to other regional trade partners — 20% for Vietnam and 19% for Indonesia and the Philippines.

Dhaka last week also signed an initial agreement with US wheat growers to import 700,000 tons of the grain annually over five years. “We’re also increasing imports of cotton and soybeans — these will be more effective in reducing our trade gap, as we need these all year round,” Rahman said.

The moves are part of Bangladesh’s strategy to narrow a goods trade surplus of around $6 billion with the US.

Rahman said Bangladesh’s package, combining large-scale commodity imports with a potential Boeing deal, deserves a better tariff rate than what was offered to Vietnam.

“If they take our commitments to essential commodities into account, our percentage should be even better than Vietnam’s,” he said.