It will always be a tough year for Bangladesh. Last summer amid the economic collapse, protesters defeated tyrants and pushed the country onto the brink of chaos.
Then came the devastating news a month ago that the US was charging a new 37% charge on the country's goods as the new government was still working to stabilize Bangladesh's economy. Bangladesh relies on revenue from exports to buy fuel, food and other essentials.
President Trump quickly suspended tariffs in Bangladesh and dozens of other countries after the world reacted. But the possibility of their revival worries workers who make a living in clothing factories in Bangladeshi.
Murshida Akhtar, a 25-year-old immigrant from North Bangladesh who lives near Dhaka, has been supporting his family from sewing machines for the past five years. One day recently, she and 200 other workers, 70% of women, signed a new job at 4A Yarn Dyeing at Savar's Industrial Hub.
Akhtar admitted he was worried about the tariffs. But she was excited by the change in her work. She expected to be paid $156 a month in 4A. This was slightly more than my previous job, shorter commutes and a better work environment.
“My concern is that orders will be reduced,” she said. “After that, there's less work.”
Bangladesh, a country of 170 million people, is crammed into the delta, the size of Wisconsin, and was ridden as a cause of economic loss after violent birth in the 1970s. Since the 1980s, it has grown steadily behind the clothing industry. Bangladeshi workers, especially women, have made the country the tailor of the world. In the process, the average Bangladesh is better than the average citizen of India, the huge neighbouring country.
Mr. Akhtar is one of around 4 million Bangladesh, which is directly adopted in the manufacture of clothing for export. Perhaps five times more reliant on her work, including her husband and son.
Side effects such as the tariffs that Trump planned and the 145% tariffs he applied to Chinese products will break Bangladesh's growth engine.
Before Trump suspends tariffs, Bangladeshi interim leader, Nobel Peace Prize-winning economist Muhammad Yunus, wrote to him a letter asking for a 90-day respite. Yunus has promised that his country will buy more American cotton and other products to reduce the trade surplus last year. This was $6 billion last year.
Rush al Mahmoud Titumir, an economist at the University of Dhaka, was less dependent on him. He called the tariff threat “an indication of ugly power.” It has become the country vulnerable after decades of enviable growth and faced a recession, he said.
The 2024 currency crisis undermined the Sheikh Hasina government, which has been dominated by iron grips for over 15 years. Her expulsion caused an immediate security vacuum. Nine months later, Bangladesh has yet to plan to restore democracy.
Almost 85% of Bangladesh's exports are clothing, with more ships in the US than in any other country. Even if Trump fails to regain the 37% tariffs when the self-defined period of bounty ends in July, Bangladesh will face the 10% tariffs he effectively imposed on the whole world.
Even at 10% it is difficult to swallow with low margin businesses like the clothing trade. The competition is fierce from China, the only country that exports further, as well as India, Vietnam, Cambodia and Sri Lanka.
The political upheavals in Bangladesh were seen as a sign of hope by supporters of Western liberal democracy. India was troubled by the end of the alliance that they built with Hasina. However, former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s administration welcomed Yunus.
Bangladesh's central bank has cried out to contain fallout from Hasina's administration's looting of the financial system. A year of growth was expected, but I believed that by 2026 the business would be normal. The tariffs have ended that hope. The World Bank has already lowered expectations for Bangladesh's growth over the next two years.
The country is feeling the heat from the International Monetary Fund, which received a loan of $4.7 billion last year.
“We are under great pressure to lower subsidies, raise prices and raise prices,” said Famida Katun, director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, a think tank in Dhaka.
10% tariffs and more strike prospects at the heart of the garment sector that changed itself. In 2013, a huge sweat shop called Rana Plaza collapsed, killing more than 1,100 workers. The loss of grotesque lives made foreign buyers, leading Western clothing brands, doubt that they could stick to their local partners.
But the industry has come together and realized that it needs to change to survive. On the main road from Dhaka to Sabah, there is still the vast space where Rana Plaza once stood. The harsh conditions the site represents have led to the future of Bangladesh's manufacturing.
The industry is integrated. The number of companies making clothing is shrinking, but the value of exports and the number of people employed is increasing. Bangladesh has 230 garment factories certified under the leadership of the Energy and Environmental Design Program, a US-led best practice protocol, policed by inspectors who make regular visits. That's more than any other country in the world.
Among them is 4a thread dyeing, where Ahtar works. Despite its name, he hasn't dyed the thread for years. It focuses on more valued outerwear, mainly jackets with flashy zippers, waterproofing and other difficult bits. While we proudly list buyers of American brands from Carhartt to Calvin Klein, we have even more European customers than Americans.
4A Yarn Dyeing's factory's five work floors cut, sew and stitch the latest information from Costco's Jachs New York series. Huge wall mounted fans hum against sewing needles and pipe-in music. Even in the seasonal swells of Premonson at Savar, the space is bright, airy and comfortable.
The signs around the factory floor are first in English, not local Bangla. Like other Bangladeshi factories, 4a thread dyeing is used in the prying eyes of foreign inspectors.
The factory's exterior is located in front of it by a hanging green cascade. On the roof there are solar panels that help power the operation.
In August, the factory was attacked during an uprising that defeated Hasina. General Manager Khandker Imam pridefully recalled how his factory continues to work.
Almost every other mob was gathered outside the factory. Many of Bangladeshi businesses were suspected of working with Hasina. “1,000 people came to attack our factory,” Imam said. He wore a helmet and joined the workers and held back the crowd outside the gate.
In the end, no one was seriously injured, and a day of production was lost, Imam said. The company, like in the country, has become accustomed to survival of life-threatening chaos.
“The entire economy of this country is dependent on this sector,” said Mohammad Monawar Hossain, the company's director of sustainability. The movements of those who defeated Hasina also understand this. As a nation, he said, “We only have labor.”
