AL MAMOON

Bangladesh’s total trade with the United States has crossed the $10-billion mark in 2021, a feat that we should celebrate and beat our drums in the run-up for 2022 that is beckoning a 12-billion-dollar milestone! First, let us look at blockbuster ten.

Data from the United States Census Bureau tells us how we made it year by year, billion by billion.

In 2016, it was only $6.82 billion of total trade, meaning export to the US and import from the US combined. With exports mounting higher and higher, the figures rose to $7.16 billion, $8.18 billion and $9.01 billion in three successive years. That says we could hit the 10-billion-dollar jackpot in 2020 had there been no pandemic.

We did quite well though. Braving the deadly disease, we exported $6.07 billion worth of goods lifting the total trade to $7.92 billion. And then came the lucky charm 2021: $2.33 billion in imports plus $8.30 billion in export took us to $10.64 billion in the total trade, an astronomical 34.31 per cent rise, year-on-year.

There is not much of a change in imports from the US over the years, rather it is the steady growth of our export that did the trick. When new Boeings are added to our fleet, import goes up, or else it stays below $2 billion. The traditional biggies are seeds, scrap iron and steel, cotton, natural gas and liquefied natural gas.

The quite fascinating fact is that not only have we maximised our export volume, we also sprinted faster than our rivals. From the 54th goods trading partner of America in 2016, we moved up to the 45th position last year, up eight notches in a span of six years, among 232 nations and territories that the US has trading relations with.

THE ROAD TO $12 BILLION

More good news is brewing! The first quarter of 2022 came out as the best three months ever in history! This is unprecedented, unmatched and extraordinary.

These stunning, never-seen-before numbers demand the never-seen-before attention of all stakeholders. Historic month-to-month data also tells us that year closing figure is never a straight quadruple of any quarter. Rather, 12 months in total generally register a higher volume than a fourfold of the first quarter. Put it simply, we are eying on $12 billion of total trade this year, if not more!

This has been a long uphill climb. Having traded since independence, it took us till 1992 to touch the $1-billion mark and three decades more to turn it double-digit. But indications are loud and clear that we are not going to stop here.

And, at this vantage point, let us give due credit to both sides of the aisle, individuals and associations who sell to America on one side, and the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Bangladesh Bank, the Export Promotion Bureau, the National Board of Revenue, the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority, the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority, the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority and all other regulators on the other. Hats off!

THE ANTICLIMAX

The bottom line remains that of a titanic $4.5 trillion annual trade of the US with the world, we could only capture a paltry 0.23 per cent market share. It is far less than 1 per cent, with the top three Canada, Mexico, and China holding 14 per cent of the pie each