Dhaka, March 28 -- The United States is Bangladesh's largest export market and a major source of foreign direct investment, with bilateral relations focusing heavily on garment trade, energy, and development. A 2026 trade agreement is reducing U.S. tariffs on Bangladeshi goods to 19 per cent, with special provisions for apparel made with U.S. cotton.

The two countries signed a bilateral investment treaty in 1986. U.S. companies are the largest foreign investors in Bangladesh. Although Bangladesh may not be a major trading partner of the US, the US is an important and major partner to Bangladesh.

Relations between British colonial Bengal and the United States began in 1792, when Benjamin Joy was appointed as the first American envoy to t...