M Humayun Kabir

As always, this time too we were afflicted with hesitancy. We often have a propensity towards indecision. In my view, the US is now moving forward with this tariff initiative in all seriousness, but we have not attached the same level of urgency to the matter. News reports suggest that the government assumed the initiative would be delayed by a year, giving us time, and therefore the issue didn’t need to be treated as a high priority.

There are two main reasons behind this. First, because of our indecision, there was a sense of uncertainty about whether or not we should take proactive steps. Second, we failed to properly grasp the geostrategic perspective behind the US tariff approach this time. As a result, we viewed the whole issue in our own way. But what we didn’t take into account was the fact that a major shift is taking place globally, something beyond our own perspective.

Because of this failure, it seems we've fallen somewhat behind in negotiations. Discussions with the US are ongoing, but it’s still unclear exactly where we stand in the negotiations. Nevertheless, we hope that in the end, there will be an outcome that is satisfactory to both sides.