Garment manufacturers recently urged the US and Bangladesh to sign cotton purchase agreement so that they could get duty privileges on export of apparel items to American markets and ship more products.

If the US agrees to the proposal, local millers will import cotton from the US under a special arrangement for Bangladeshi apparel manufacturers to make garment items from the yarn and fabrics for American customers. Under the agreement the US can allow the duty benefit on condition that all the garment items would be made from the yarn and fabrics using American cotton.

Two local spinning mills have already proposed that the government allow them to set up mills in the US to produce yarn there and make garment items in Bangladesh. But, the proposals were not approved.

Earlier, US cotton exporters also raised the issue and the BGMEA agreed to the proposal. Such trading arrangement in garment business had been incorporated in the now-scrapped Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement keeping Vietnam in mind.