Bangladesh news and archive

Bangladesh, US negotiate to avert 35 percent tariff on textile exports

Trade negotiations between the US and Bangladesh officially resumed on Tuesday, July 29, in Washington, D.C. These talks are taking place amidst significant protectionist pressure from the Trump administration. The aim is to prevent the imminent implementation of punitive tariffs, which could reach 35 percent, on Bangladeshi exports, primarily...

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Business

Asia holds the thread: Regional textile powers reinvent strategies amid global slowdown

While 2024-2025 financial results show a slowdown in consumption in several Asian countries – particularly for luxury groups like LVMH – the global textile sector continues to rely on the region. Several indicators from the first half of 2025 confirm Asia’s central role in global value chains. Between export growth, structural adjustments,...

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People|Background

Trade union freedom is still a long way off in fashion: "It's essential that brands sit down with employees"

2023 and 2024 were years of protests for Bangladeshi garment workers. Tens of thousands of workers took to the streets, demanding, among other things, payment arrears and the lack of structural improvements: a living wage, meal allowances, raises for night shifts, and more lenient work duties for pregnant women. These protests were intended to...

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Business

Bangladesh hopes for trade agreement with US

Dhaka, July 8, 2025 – Bangladesh, the world's second-largest textile manufacturer, still hopes to reach an agreement with the US to avoid the sharp rise in customs duties threatened by Donald Trump. A senior official told AFP on Tuesday. The textile industry contributes 80 percent of the South Asian country's total exports. One-fifth of its...

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Fashion

Bangladesh protests bring production to a halt for Fashion's top brands

Levi's and H&M are among top global clothing brands to suffer production halts in Bangladesh, a garment union leader said Friday, after days of violent protests by workers demanding a near-tripling of their wages. Bangladesh's 3,500 garment factories account for around 85 percent of the South Asian country's 55 billion dollars annual exports,...

Fashion Partner Content

Registration for The IAF’s 37th World Fashion Convention is Open Now

IAF is proud to invite the global apparel industry to its 37th World Fashion Convention that the global industry body is organizing with its Bangladeshi members, BGMEA and BKMEA. Registration for these events has now opened on the joint, dedicated convention website. The Convention will contain a full day conference and a network dinner. The...

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Business|INTERVIEW

Bangladesh: "Our garment industry is one of the safest in the world today"

Faruque Hassan is the new president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers Association (BGMEA). The country has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, and with the looming expiration of the Bangladesh Accord, a new tug-of-war has begun between brands, factories, unions and NGOs over responsibilities and accountability for the health and safety...

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Business

Bangladesh’s garment exports to recover pre-Covid levels by October

Garment export might make a full recovery to pre-pandemic levels by October this year as shipments are rebounding with the reopening of Western retail stores. “The trend of garment shipment is good with the rise in demand in the Western world,” said Faruque Hassan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association...

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Fashion

The Bangladesh safety accord expires in May. What next?

Bangladesh in 2021 remains a garment manufacturing hub for the world’s leading high street and mid-market brands. It is also a region with a well-documented history of factory incidents and unsafe workplaces for its garment workers. After the Rana Plaza factory collapse in 2013, which killed over 1,100 workers, the Accord on Fire and Building...

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Business|BACKGROUND

Sourcing: How the pandemic is affecting global fashion supply chains

The Corona pandemic has hit the apparel industry’s global supply chains hard. How are they recovering? What changes will the pandemic bring? Clothing manufacturers, sourcing platforms and buyers talk about their expectations for the future and whether they believe in the nearshoring trend. Cancellations: premium manufacturers profit In...

BusinessPress Release

Support garment workers affected by Covid-19

The ready-made garment sector in Bangladesh has been particularly hard-hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. USD 1.5 billion of business has already been lost and 1.2 million garment workers’ livelihoods have been impacted. Many factories have been shut down indefinitely and workers were given only 23 days of salary as severance or sometimes none at...

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Fashion

30 percent of global fashion businesses will not survive the crisis

30 percent of the world’s biggest fashion companies, including household name brands and department stores, will not survive the pandemic crisis. The findings come from McKinsey’s updated State of Fashion Report, which said the average market capitalization of apparel, fashion, and luxury players dropped almost 40 percent between the start of...