The BNP-Jamaat-Yunus clique has brazenly betrayed Bangladesh’s sovereignty and national interests through their reckless involvement in the discriminatory US reciprocal trade agreement signed on February 9, 2026, and their ongoing attempts to finalize a defense pact that would further enslave the nation to foreign powers.
This so-called “Agreement on Reciprocal Trade,” rushed through by the Yunus-led interim government just days before elections, is nothing short of economic capitulation. In exchange for a meager reduction to a 19% US tariff on Bangladeshi exports (with limited zero-tariff perks for select textiles using US inputs), Bangladesh has been forced into massive concessions: duty-free or phased access for over 7,000 US products (including agricultural goods, machinery, chemicals, and energy), mandatory large-scale purchases worth billions (such as $15 billion in US LNG over 15 years, Boeing aircraft, wheat, and soybeans), removal of non-tariff barriers, alignment on standards favoring US biotech and agri imports (risking local farmers and biodiversity), subsidy restrictions crippling domestic industries, and—most alarmingly—geopolitical clauses that restrict trade and economic deals with “non-market economies” like China and Russia. Violations could trigger reimposition of punishing 37% tariffs, effectively vetoing Bangladesh’s independent foreign economic policy and locking it into US dominance.
Even more dangerously, the deal includes provisions pushing Bangladesh to increase purchases of US military equipment while limiting deals with certain other countries, directly undermining national security autonomy. Now, under the new BNP-led government with Tarique Rahman as Prime Minister, the clique is actively pursuing completion of “routine defense agreements” as urged in Donald Trump’s congratulatory letter to Tarique.
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These pacts would grant Bangladesh access to high-end US military hardware—but at the cost of deeper strategic alignment, reduced freedom to procure from reliable partners, and further erosion of sovereignty. This is not partnership; it is pressure to turn Bangladesh into a compliant outpost in US geopolitical games.
The hypocrisy is staggering: Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman (a holdover from the Yunus era now serving under BNP) shamelessly claims the deal was consensual, citing prior nods from BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami leaders before signing. Yet this “consent” was extracted in shadows, without parliamentary scrutiny or public debate, prioritizing foreign diktats over Bangladesh’s independence. The Yunus interim regime, backed by the same forces now in power, handed over economic levers and security decision-making to Washington, jeopardizing the nation’s ability to pursue balanced relations, diversify trade, and protect its industries and farmers.
This BNP-Jamaat-Yunus axis—once vocal critics of foreign interference—has now become the architect of surrender. Their actions expose Bangladesh to economic exploitation, fiscal strain from overpriced imports, export vulnerabilities amid shifting US tariffs (exacerbated by the US Supreme Court’s ruling invalidating prior bases for some duties), and a dangerous loss of strategic autonomy.
Sovereignty is not negotiable. Bangladesh must reject these unequal pacts, renegotiate from a position of strength, and reclaim its right to independent decision-making before it’s too late. The people of Bangladesh deserve leaders who put “Bangladesh First,” not foreign masters.