China-US free trade talks suggested

Ding Qingfen, Zhang Yuwei and Chen Weihua

China should propose the initiation of talks on a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States to reduce trade frictions and create benefits for both, a former senior commerce official has said. "Why shouldn't we consider establishing an FTA between the world's two largest economies?" asked Wei Jianguo, former deputy minister of commerce. "We could study the feasibility of the matter," Wei said, adding that China and the US have highly complementary economies.

China should also "accelerate its steps" on establishing an FTA with Japan and South Korea, Wei said, which would connect the three top economies in Asia.

Wei's proposals come as the US is aggressively expanding its influence in the Asia-Pacific region and expects to grow its economy and create employment by taking advantage of the fast economic growth in Asia.

The world's largest economy is advancing a trade agreement in Asia, known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, to remove trade and investment barriers among the nations involved. Nine countries, including Australia and Vietnam, have agreed to join the pact and set a goal of reaching a final agreement by the end of this year. China is not included.

Last year, Japan, the world's third-largest economy, also announced its desire to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks, but the matter is pending. China is trying to transform from a big exporter to a great consumer, while the US pledges to double its exports in five years.

Asia, including China, is a major destination for promoting American goods. "The China-US FTA could help the US expand exports to China, reducing trade frictions," Wei said.

US experts said an FTA between China and the US should be a good thing.

"Any approach by China to initiate discussions with the US on a free trade agreement should be welcome," said Vikram Nehru, senior associate of Southeast Asian Studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington-based think tank. But he stressed that "China should be aware that US concerns extend well beyond trade barriers and are likely to include 'behind-the-border' trade issues."

These trade issues could involve explicit budgetary subsidies and implicit policy-related subsidies to state enterprises. Regulations that shield state enterprises from competition in domestic markets, such as restrictions on government procurement and barriers that inhibit new firms from entering key manufacturing and services sectors, could also be a problem, Nehru claimed.

The protection of intellectual property rights of US companies by the Chinese legal system is also a big concern, Nehru said.

"I think the time has come for a new and bolder approach," Maurice Greenberg, former chief of AIG and now chairman and CEO of C.V. Starr and Co, said in an article in the Wall Street Journal in January. "China and the US should open negotiations for a free trade agreement between our two countries," he said.

"The negotiations will not be easy. There will be numerous impasses, and the negotiations will probably last for many years. But discussing problems in the context of driving toward a potential agreement is far better than lengthy dialogues without an end result," Greenberg said.

"Even if we fail to reach an agreement on many issues, progress should be possible on some issues, and that will create a better trade climate. The alternative is that we drift along constantly irritating each other in a low-grade trade war that will leave businesses and consumers in both countries losers."

Many are worried about a trade war between the world's top two economies as the US recently announced the establishment of an interagency trade-enforcement unit to investigate whether nations, including China, play by trade rules.

The US House of Representatives recently passed a bill allowing the US Commerce Department to continue to charge countervailing duties worth $5 billion on imports from China.

But a China-US FTA may not be established soon. "In the short term, talks on a China-US FTA are highly unlikely," said Zhang Yunling, director of the Division of International Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The US is strongly committed to advancing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, setting up trade rules in Asia based on its own wishes, Zhang said.

There are many things that have to be addressed before the talks could start, including the US recognising China's market economy status, an issue that the two nations have long been arguing over.

© China Daily. All rights reserved. Reprinted by arrangement with Asia News Network.

The Daily Star, 18 March 2012

US-BD economic ties deepening gradually

                                Nizam Ahmed

Economic ties between the United States and Bangladesh are deepening gradually as the entrepreneurs and traders of the former continue to show their active interest in the latter as an attractive place for investment and a competitive source, mostly for apparels, traders and officials said on Tuesday.

Following the tragic fire incident at a factory of the Tazreen Fashions Ltd at Ashulia that killed 111 workers late last month, the rate of order for apparels from the US has turned normal after a few days' slow pace, officials at the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) said.

The US investors are also among the interested parties that have registered their investment proposals in different sectors mainly in energy over the last couple of months, according to the Board of Investment (BoI).

However, the diplomatic relations between the two governments, according to some diplomats and analysts, are somewhat less warm, particularly over the past couple of years, than before.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina did not find a time to meet visiting US assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert O Blake last week, they noted.

"We are not convinced that the prime minister did not get time to meet the US assistant secretary of state for her preoccupation," a former senior government official said requesting not to be identified.

During the visit of Mr Blake, the prime minister had given time for relatively less important events, he said.

It was for the first time that a US State Department official of that rank concluded his/her visit to Bangladesh without meeting the prime minister of the country, said officials at the ministry of foreign affairs.

Earlier the US Ambassador to Bangladesh Robert W Mozena also could not find a schedule to meet the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina over the last couple of months, despite his request, officials at the US embassy in Dhaka said.

This is also unprecedented that a US ambassador has to wait so long to have an interaction with the prime minister of Bangladesh.

Source: The Financial Express, 19 December 2012

Obama victory brings hopes for Bangladesh

           Md Fazlur Rahman and Refayet Ullah Mirdha

The reelection of Barack Obama as the US president can enhance the economic and political ties between Dhaka and Washington, economists and experts said yesterday.
Dr Zaid Bakht, a research director of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, hopes there would be progress in the issues pertaining to duty-free access for garment products and the Trade and Investment Cooperation Framework Agreement, which have been lingering for years.
"Lately, a political dimension has been added to the economic policies. We do not have the 'best of relationship' with the US at the moment for various reasons," he said.
The onus now lies with Bangladesh to improve relationship with the US, Bakht said.
He, however, is doubtful whether the relationship would have improved if there had been a change in leadership in Washington.
"Any Republican government would be more conservative in terms of opening up the economy. Bangladesh could benefit from outsourcing jobs in the near future, which would have been difficult if a Republican was in power."
Bangladesh's garment exporters have been seeking duty-free access to the US market for years now as they have to pay on average 15.30 percent duty, whereas some developed and developing countries pay below four percent.
America is the single largest garment export destination of Bangladesh.
Debapriya Bhattacharya, a distinguished fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, a local think-tank, said the implementation of Obama's plans to revive the US economy is also linked with Bangladesh's interest.
"It is expected to enhance the American economy's growth rate, improve its employment record and investment scenario. As a result, there will be more income for the American citizens, which would expand the market for Bangladeshi garments and other items."
"Of note is the US president's planned tax cuts for the middle-class, which will give more purchasing power to the middle-class, who are, in fact, the major clients of Bangladeshi garment products," he said.
He also said the strengthening of the US economy would hopefully stabilise the global economy as a whole, including the now battered Eurozone.
The spill-over of the American economy on the Eurozone would also enhance Bangladesh's exports to the EU.
Bhattacharya said during his election campaign the US President also talked about the heightened co-operation in the field of development, which includes more support for investment and trade facilitation.
"Bangladesh should seek more avenues to get access to those initiatives," he told The Daily Star.
He said the US President has also committed to "Feed the Future" initiative, which could help ensure Bangladesh's food security and its capacity to respond to humanitarian crisis.
The economist, however, said Bangladesh would have to be mindful of the US concerns in areas of labour and human rights, political uncertainty and corruption, for a strengthened US-Bangla relationship.
"In order to take full advantage, we will have to do some homework ourselves and bring domestic reforms. Otherwise, many of the potentials may remain unattained."
He, however, is not too hopeful about the duty-free access.
"We should remember it is a reelection of the president, which means the new administration is a reelected one. There will be continuity on the part of the administration. So, we should not expect an overnight change in their attitude."
The duty-free access decision is not in the hands of the President, but in the hands of the Congress and the House of Representatives, he added.
"The US legislatures have already questioned why people are disappearing in Bangladesh. If you do not address the issue how will they extend their co-operation?"
"Only raising expectations and not doing anything on the home-front will not be helpful. Bangladesh and USA have a multifaceted and dynamic relationship and we should not oversimplify it."
Garment exporters also do not expect any big change from the new administration as their past attempts to avail duty-benefit went into vain, said Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
He said Bangladesh engaged lobbyist firms for getting the zero-duty benefit on export of garment items -- but the US government's stance remained unchanged.
Dr Amena Mohsin, a professor at the University of Dhaka's International Relations department, said Bangladesh has a lot to learn from the election.
"Both the leaders [Obama and the Republican contender Mitt Romney] showed they could rise above their parties, and demonstrated their statesmanship, which is very much lacking in Bangladesh."
"Our leaders cannot get above party politics; they fail to be a statesperson. Our leaders should learn from them," she told The Daily Star.
Humayun Kabir, a former ambassador to the US, who echoed Mohsin's views, by saying: "We should learn from the US election that one should be ready both for win and defeat, show respect to the public decision."
The former diplomat said the US-Bangladesh relation developed in a positive way during Obama's first term, with Bangladesh getting benefits from his different initiatives like Feed the Future, Global Health, Food Security Initiative.
"Bangladesh is also benefiting from the security co-operation with the US in the last few years," he said.
Prime Minister's Foreign Affairs adviser Gowher Rizvi said the relationship between Bangladesh and the US would continue to grow as the two countries share same values and democracy.
While the former Foreign Minister Morshed Khan said Obama's reelection would cast a positive impact on the immigrants and also help maintain the remittance flow from America to Bangladesh

Source:  The Daily Star, 08 November 2012

Bangladesh-US partnership dialogue

                             Barrister Harun Ur Rashid

The first ever two-day meeting under the Joint Declaration of the Bangladesh-US Partnership Dialogue commenced in Washington on September 19 to bolster bilateral and regional cooperation between the two countries.

Foreign Secretary Mijarul Quayes led the 10-member Bangladesh delegation at the discussion with his counter-part the US Under -Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Wendy R Sherman.

Representatives from ministries of commerce, energy, home, Economic Relations Division, Board of Investment, Armed Forces Division and Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) were included in the Bangladesh delegation.

The composition of Bangladesh delegation indicated that besides security, enhanced US investment, the duty-free and quota-free export facility for apparels and inclusion of Bangladesh in the Millennium Challenge Account of the US would be underscored by Bangladesh.  For the US, the priority was security including counter-terrorism, speedy investigation for the death of the labour leader Aminul Islam and the future of Grameen Bank.

It was reported that the delegations held productive discussions on a wide range of bilateral and regional issues including development, civil society and governance; trade and investment; security and countering violent extremism; counter-narcotics, military-to-military engagement, UN peacekeeping efforts and humanitarian assistance, science and technology; women's empowerment and gender equality.

On the sidelines of the dialogue, the Bangladesh business delegation held talks with the US buyers and importers. It may be noted that Bangladesh's export earning to the US during 2010-11 stood $ 4.59 billion, constituting 25% of total exports and the balance of trade is heavily in favour of Bangladesh. It is reported that granting of duty-free goods is a matter of legislation by the Congress and the executive branch cannot do it.

According to the US, the signing of Trade and Investment Cooperation Framework Agreement (Ticfa) with Bangladesh is necessary for attracting US trade and investments. However, it is reported Bangladesh has reservations on the labour-issue and since the US would not soften its stance on the labour issue, Ticfa cannot yet be signed.

A media note issued by the US Department of State on September 21 said:

"Bangladesh's status as a moderate Muslim democracy and its flourishing civil society organisations are the foundations of our bilateral partnership….At the dialogue, we also discussed the importance of appointing a respected leader to serve as the new managing director of Grameen Bank."

At the meeting, the United States encouraged Bangladesh to continue to play an active role in regional integration, including efforts such as the New Silk Road, the Indo-Pacific Corridor and Indian Ocean organisations.

Bangladesh is an integral part of the New Silk Road envisioned by the US that will connect Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and China. The pivotal reasoning behind the New Silk Road is that economic incentives will reinforce political integration and long-term stabilisation.

The meeting in Washington has taken place in the backdrop of a Joint Declaration on "Bangladesh-US Partnership Dialogue" which was signed in Dhaka, on May 5, 2012 by Bangladesh foreign minister and the US Secretary of State, to which the prime minister of Bangladesh witnessed the signing.

The "Umbrella Declaration" aims to establish regular dialogues on bilateral cooperation on issues ranging from combating terrorism, transnational crimes to food security, education, climate change and child and maternal health. It also sets a forum of consultations between the two countries. Annual consultation is envisaged at the level of Foreign Secretary/Under Secretary and periodic consultations at the level of Foreign Ministers of two countries.

Political observers say Bangladesh has become hugely important for the US because of its geographical location. Bangladesh shares borders with India and reformist and resource-rich Myanmar. It is also a near neighbour to China and stands as a bridge between South Asia and South East Asia.

Bangladesh's direct access to open sea -- Indian Ocean -- is strategically important for the US since under a new U.S strategy, the Pentagon plans to shift its focus and resources away from Europe to Asia-Pacific. The US author Robert D. Kaplan in his book "Monsoon" (2011) states that it is in the Indian Ocean that the interests and influence of India, China and the United States are beginning to overlap and intersect. It is here, Kaplan says, that the 21st century's "global power dynamics will be revealed."

Bangladesh attracts not only as a large consumer market but also is suitable for US investment since 60% Bangladesh's economy is connected globally and the country has been included as "Next -11"potential major economies. The continuation of the same rating (Ba3) by the Moody's rating agency shows optimism about the country's macroeconomic stability and growth prospects, said Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman.

The relationship between Bangladesh and the US has evolved from one of aid dependence to that of trade dependence. Bangladesh needs to develop with the US a truly modern partnership, one that is practical, open and engaged to meet the global and regional challenges. The strength of the relationship relies on the capacity to adapt to changing circumstances.

The visit of Foreign Secretary to Washington under the "Partnership Dialogue" will broaden and deepen bilateral relations with the US, an important development partner

While cooperating with the US, analysts maintain Bangladesh has to be mindful to the concerns of China and may balance its interests between the US and China and should not be perceived to be within the camp of the US against China or vice versa. Asean has played a model role in balancing their benefits between the US and China. While Asean is tied with China through Free Trade Agreement, they also seek security assurances from the US.

Strategic or Partnership Dialogue is based on long-term shared strategic vision, based on convergence of strategic interests, mutual trust, confidence in each other and respect for each other's strategic sensitivities. The US concluded Strategic Dialogue Agreement with India and China.

The next meeting at the Foreign Secretary level would be held in Dhaka in September 2013, officials concerned said.

The writer is former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva.

Source:   The Daily Star, 29 September 2012

Strategically Speaking "And now the US Senate"

              Brig Gen Shahedul Anam khan ndc, psc (Retd)

We have not yet had any response from the government on the recent hearing of the US Senate regarding the state of human rights and the scenario in the labour front, the RMG in particular, in Bangladesh.
The hearing dwelt on the state of human rights in general, singling out the Rapid Action Battalion for its criticism, blaming the elite force for the extrajudicial killings in the country. It cannot be a pleasing testimony for any government that considers itself the flag bearer of democracy, rule of law and human rights, particularly coming in the wake of HRW report that had delivered a scathing commentary on, again, the elite force, among other HR issues in the country. And now the US Senate hearing on Bangladesh labour and HR scenario, does likewise.
We can question the credentials of the US government to conduct hearings on human rights on any country, or for that matter, the moral authority to publish a yearly report card on the state of human rights all over the world when its own record of human rights in its own country or for that matter in those that it is in occupation, sometimes under the umbrella of coerced UN sanctions, makes a sorry and ignominious reading. One could also question many aspects of the testimony of the Director of the HRW, those being mere subjective opinion rather than factual, but can we question the main point at issue of the deliberation where senior US government functionaries delivered their views on the state of human rights in this country.
It is a good sign that the government did not dismiss the proceedings of the hearing out of hand as it has been wont to do, where some of such reports have been summarily rubbished as figments of some fertile mind's imagination. We hope that the government would seriously address the issues brought up at the Senate hearing, both the scenario in the RMG sector and the alleged violation of human rights by RAB.
The RMG sector merited the attention of the US Congress particularly for two reasons, firstly, because of the "failing of the government to enforce its own labor laws and its commitments as a member of the International Labor Organization," and secondly, because of the unresolved mystery of the death of Aminul Islam, head of the US based Bangladesh Center for Workers' Solidarity (BCWS) linked to the US body advancing labour rights in Bangladesh.
Aminul's body was found in a ditch on April 5, 2012, after being picked up, allegedly, by a law enforcing agency a day before from Ashulia. Reportedly, the labour rights advocate was detained previously by the NSI on June 16, 2010. According to Aminul, he was threatened with death and subjected to severe and repeated beatings to give false testimony against his colleagues at BCWS.
These are issue that have serious ramification for our RMG industry. The industry has grown in size despite the less-than-stable political situation in the country, and in spite of the many hurdles that it has had to face, particularly shortage of power. And it has the potential to double the export in the next several years has been forecast by international market research groups. The country can hardly bear any reduction in the demand for our apparel particularly in the US and Europe, something that might just happen as hinted to by the US Ambassador in Bangladesh, if the situation was not addressed.
The mystery of Aminul's death must also be resolved quickly. Regrettably, what one found rather disturbing is the attempt to paint him as an NGO activist rather than a labour leader, as we saw being done recently, as if to suggest that an NGO activist is a fair game for a killer? It does not diminish the importance of the issue whether the murdered person was a labour leader or an NGO activist, nor detract from it the gravity of the fact that a human life has been cut short.
Why should the HR situation come to such a pass that the international bodies are compelled to suggest that Bangladesh be put under watch of the UN? And can any government tolerate its elite force being called a "Death Squad?" The HRW has done so several times in its official documents. As for the RAB and the alleged extra-judicial killings, we did not find any protest from the BNP to the HRW statement in the hearing that, “BNP officials told Human Rights Watch that extrajudicial killings were part of its mandate from the outset because, they argued, corruption in the police and courts meant that powerful criminals could avoid arrest or buy their way out of prison.” The BNP has a lot to answer for if that is true.
Instead of going in a denial mode the government should investigate all the allegations of rights violation by government agencies, and wherever necessary take the errant persons to task. And, if it believes really in what it has publicly preached, that it is committed to "zero tolerance" for human rights violations, it must act sincerely to stop it.

The writer is Editor, Op-Ed and Defence & Strategic Affairs, The Daily Star.

Source:  The Daily Star, 26 July 2012