Bangladesh’s garment exporters have expressed interest in collaborating with U.S. cotton suppliers to take advantage of a new American tariff concession for apparel made with at least 20 percent U.S.-origin raw materials.

The proposal was presented during a meeting on Tuesday between a high-level delegation of U.S. cotton exporters and Mahmud Hasan Khan, President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), at the BGMEA Complex in Uttara, Dhaka, according to a press release.

The visit was facilitated by Cotton USA, an initiative of Cotton Council International (CCI).

“This new tariff concession creates enormous opportunities for our industry, as it will make our products more competitive in the global market,” Khan said.

He, however, noted that clear implementation guidelines were yet to be issued by U.S. authorities and urged the delegation to help secure clarifications so local factories could prepare.

Currently, around 10 percent of Bangladesh’s imported cotton comes from the United States. The BGMEA chief said this share could be doubled or tripled through awareness and collaboration on the benefits of using U.S. cotton.

The U.S. delegation welcomed the idea of joint initiatives to promote American cotton in Bangladesh and raised concerns about documentation barriers in exports, which BGMEA pledged to address with the Ministry of Commerce.

Both sides also discussed logistics improvements, transparency in verifying U.S. content, and possible technical cooperation to boost mill productivity and sustainability.