By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
The Obama administration on Thursday will suspend trade privileges for Bangladesh over concerns about safety problems and labor rights violations in that country’s garment industry, according to administration and Congressional officials.
The administration has come under intense pressure to suspend Bangladesh’s trade privileges after a factory building there collapsed in April, killing 1,129 workers, and after a factory fire killed 112 workers last November.
Officials with the United States Trade Representative’s office declined to comment. Administration and Congressional officials said the official announcement would come later on Thursday
Labor unions and Democrats on Capitol Hill have been pressing the Obama administration to take this step. Bangladesh is allowed to export nearly 5,000 products duty-free to the United States, which purchases about 25 percent of the country’s $18 billion in annual apparel exports.
Bangladesh is among more than 125 countries that receives such breaks on United States tariffs under the Generalized System of Preferences, a World Trade Organization program that is intended to promote economic growth around the globe
In recent weeks, officials in the Labor Department have called for revoking Bangladesh’s special trade status, saying the United States needs to take strong action. Labor officials have asserted that the garment industry has been dragging its feet in improving safety and ending violations of workers’ right to form labor unions. At the same time, some State Department officials have pushed against suspending the trade privileges, saying it would damage diplomatic relations and undermine the economy or an already poor country.
At a hearing in March held by the trade representative’s office, a top official in Bangladesh’s Commerce Ministry said, “Compliance with rights, including labor rights, will necessarily be gradual” in poor countries like Bangladesh.
The administration’s move is in response to an official complaint that the A.F.L.-C.I.O. filed in 2007. The labor federation was upset about factory fires and a 2005 factory collapse in Bangladesh, as well as the extensive efforts by that country’s garment manufacturers to suppress labor unions.
Administration officials took that complaint with new seriousness after the Tazreen factory fire November and after the Rana Plaza factory building collapsed two months ago in what was the most deadly accident in the history of the world’s apparel industry.
The Generalized System of Preferences covers only a small fraction of American trade with Bangladesh. Those preferences do not apply to the Bangladeshi garment industry, which does not enjoy American duty-free status and represents the great bulk of that country’s trade with the United States. One labor rights advocate familiar with the government’s decision said it called for suspension and provided a road map to restore trade privileges.
Even so, trade experts say they expect the suspension, a serious blow to Bangladesh’s image, would pressure its government to move more aggressively to improve safety and protect worker rights in its garment industry. The industry is a major economic driver, with more than 5,000 factories that employ 4 million workers.
“We welcome the fact that our government has finally decided to take action after we’ve seen all these egregious labor rights violations,” said Cathy Feingold, director of the A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s international department. “We hope this will lead to real change in Bangladesh.”
In December, the United States sent Bangladesh a list of areas that needed improvement to prevent having trade privileges suspended. That list included ending government harassment of union organizers and giving more rights to workers in the country’s special export manufacturing zones.
The A.F.L.-C.I.O. and the Obama administration have both expressed concern about the treatment of labor activists in Bangladesh. In April 2012, the body of Aminul Islam, a prominent labor organizer, was found dead, with signs of torture. Bangladeshi news media reported that government security forces might have been tied to his death. There have been no arrests.
The Obama administration’s move may also influence the European Union, which is also weighing whether to suspend Bangladesh’s trade preferences. Such a move could have much greater impact because Europe’s duty-free privileges cover Bangladeshi apparel, and Europe purchases 60 percent of the country’s garment exports.
Thursday, June 27, 2013
U.S. to Suspend Trade Privileges With Bangladesh
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
The Obama administration on Thursday will suspend trade privileges for Bangladesh over concerns about safety problems and labor rights violations in that country’s garment industry, according to administration and Congressional officials.
The administration has come under intense pressure to suspend Bangladesh’s trade privileges after a factory building there collapsed in April, killing 1,129 workers, and after a factory fire killed 112 workers last November.
Officials with the United States Trade Representative’s office declined to comment. Administration and Congressional officials said the official announcement would come later on Thursday
Labor unions and Democrats on Capitol Hill have been pressing the Obama administration to take this step. Bangladesh is allowed to export nearly 5,000 products duty-free to the United States, which purchases about 25 percent of the country’s $18 billion in annual apparel exports.
Bangladesh is among more than 125 countries that receives such breaks on United States tariffs under the Generalized System of Preferences, a World Trade Organization program that is intended to promote economic growth around the globe
In recent weeks, officials in the Labor Department have called for revoking Bangladesh’s special trade status, saying the United States needs to take strong action. Labor officials have asserted that the garment industry has been dragging its feet in improving safety and ending violations of workers’ right to form labor unions. At the same time, some State Department officials have pushed against suspending the trade privileges, saying it would damage diplomatic relations and undermine the economy or an already poor country.
At a hearing in March held by the trade representative’s office, a top official in Bangladesh’s Commerce Ministry said, “Compliance with rights, including labor rights, will necessarily be gradual” in poor countries like Bangladesh.
The administration’s move is in response to an official complaint that the A.F.L.-C.I.O. filed in 2007. The labor federation was upset about factory fires and a 2005 factory collapse in Bangladesh, as well as the extensive efforts by that country’s garment manufacturers to suppress labor unions.
Administration officials took that complaint with new seriousness after the Tazreen factory fire November and after the Rana Plaza factory building collapsed two months ago in what was the most deadly accident in the history of the world’s apparel industry.
The Generalized System of Preferences covers only a small fraction of American trade with Bangladesh. Those preferences do not apply to the Bangladeshi garment industry, which does not enjoy American duty-free status and represents the great bulk of that country’s trade with the United States. One labor rights advocate familiar with the government’s decision said it called for suspension and provided a road map to restore trade privileges.
Even so, trade experts say they expect the suspension, a serious blow to Bangladesh’s image, would pressure its government to move more aggressively to improve safety and protect worker rights in its garment industry. The industry is a major economic driver, with more than 5,000 factories that employ 4 million workers.
“We welcome the fact that our government has finally decided to take action after we’ve seen all these egregious labor rights violations,” said Cathy Feingold, director of the A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s international department. “We hope this will lead to real change in Bangladesh.”
In December, the United States sent Bangladesh a list of areas that needed improvement to prevent having trade privileges suspended. That list included ending government harassment of union organizers and giving more rights to workers in the country’s special export manufacturing zones.
The A.F.L.-C.I.O. and the Obama administration have both expressed concern about the treatment of labor activists in Bangladesh. In April 2012, the body of Aminul Islam, a prominent labor organizer, was found dead, with signs of torture. Bangladeshi news media reported that government security forces might have been tied to his death. There have been no arrests.
The Obama administration’s move may also influence the European Union, which is also weighing whether to suspend Bangladesh’s trade preferences. Such a move could have much greater impact because Europe’s duty-free privileges cover Bangladeshi apparel, and Europe purchases 60 percent of the country’s garment exports.
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