STAFF CORRESPONDENT

Bangladesh cannot unilaterally revoke its trade deal with the US, Commerce Minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir said yesterday.

He made the remarks as the agreement faced fresh scrutiny over language that reportedly places far more binding obligations on Dhaka than on Washington DC.

“A state-level agreement is not like a personal contract that can be cancelled at will,” he told the media following a meeting with Brendan Lynch, assistant US trade representative for South and Central Asia, at the ministry in Dhaka.

“It is a reality, and we want to make the best use of it to expand the country’s trade and investment,” the minister said.

He said Bangladesh need not worry about the agreement, as international trade deals are structured to benefit all signatories.

“Any international agreement is reached through coordination between two parties. It is designed to create a win-win situation by taking into account the interests of both sides,” Muktadir said.

The minister urged stakeholders to focus on extracting mutual value from the arrangement. He also noted that the current government did not negotiate the Agreement

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