DHAKA -- Bangladesh has ramped up purchases of U.S. goods in the wake of a trade agreement signed in February, having signed purchasing agreements worth billions of dollars for Boeing aircraft, liquefied natural gas and grains, but its exports in the other direction have yet to see a substantial boost as it waits for the trade pact to be implemented.

In February, Dhaka and Washington reached the agreement on reciprocal trade following U.S. President Donald Trump's steep tariffs on Bangladesh, although the underlying basis of these duties has since been undermined by U.S. courts. The deal is awaiting implementation by both sides, and the timeline for when the provisions will come into effect remain unclear.

Nonetheless, for the February-July period, U.S. exports to Bangladesh surged 77% year-on-year to $2.3 billion, according to data from the South Asian nation's National Board of Revenue, while trade in the opposite direction rose by a mere 6.25% to $4.76 billion. According to Bangladesh Bank data, the top three products -- mineral fuels, cotton and oil seeds, grains and related products -- made up about 69% of Bangladesh's $1.9 billion in imports from the U.S. between January and June.

Trade with the U.S. has been given a further boost after flag carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines signed a supplementary agreement with Boeing on Sept. 23 for an additional 11 aircraft for an undisclosed price, bringing Bangladesh's Boeing order book this year to 25 aircraft. In April, it had ordered 14 aircraft for $3.7 billion, with deliveries scheduled between November 2031 and October 2035. Bangladesh has also committed to LNG and agricultural purchases worth $18 billion.

Responding to a question about why the government is buying more from the U.S. despite the trade deal not being in force, Commerce Minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir said Bangladesh is increasing imports of wheat, edible oil, LNG, cotton and similar goods because these are essential commodities that Bangladesh has to import from one source or another regardless.

In the other direction, Bangladesh's exports to the U.S. of ready-made garments -- one of the country's most important sectors -- actually fell 7.55% year-on-year in the February-July period, according to the U.S. Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA).

The U.S. is Bangladesh's single largest ready-made garment destination. The average unit price of Bangladeshi garments on the market slipped to $3.05 per square meter equivalent in the January-July period, even as the global average price edged up to $3.17, according to OTEXA, indicating Bangladesh lost ground despite buyers paying marginally more on average elsewhere.

Under the trade agreement signed on Feb. 9, Bangladesh must eliminate duties on nearly all U.S. goods immediately or within five to 10 years, while the US offers no reciprocal guarantees on purchases.

"The [deal] emerged from an unequal negotiation, with Bangladesh negotiating under the threat of steep U.S. tariffs against its largest export market," said Mohammad Abdur Razzaque, chairman of the Research and Policy Integration for Development think tank. "Its main gain was defensive: a 19% reciprocal tariff avoiding harsher rates." However, that benefit soon became moot. On Feb. 20, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, making the 19% rate irrelevant.

Currently, the U.S. is imposing a 10% levy, based on a forced-labor investigation, subject to certain exemptions and planned tariff-rate quotas for textiles and apparel using U.S. inputs.

Under Article 5.3 of the trade deal, the U.S. committed to establishing a mechanism allowing certain textile and apparel goods from Bangladesh -- for example, garments manufactured using U.S.-produced cotton and man-made fiber -- to enter the American market at a zero reciprocal tariff rate.

Bangladesh currently faces a combined 25% levy on cotton products and a steeper 39% to 40% levy on synthetic products to enter the U.S. market, said Shovon Islam, managing director of Sparrow Group, a ready-made garment manufacturer. Bangladeshi exporters had to bear part of the reciprocal tariff, and as a result, garment prices had to be reduced somewhat for the U.S. market, he said.

"Bangladesh should make implementation of Article 5.3 an immediate diplomatic and trade policy priority," said Mohammad Kabir Hassan, an economist and professor of finance at the University of New Orleans. "Dhaka should ask the USTR (United States Trade Representative) for a clear implementation timetable, the formula for determining the duty-free quota, eligible products, rules of origin and customs procedures." Buying more LNG or cotton doesn't automatically entitle Bangladesh to tariff concessions beyond what's legally committed, said M.G. Quibria, an economist and former senior adviser at the Asian Development Bank Institute, meaning these purchases are leverage.

Bangladesh should press Washington to clarify exactly what tariff burden Article 5.3 removes in practice, given subsequent changes to the broader U.S. tariff regime, so the concession's real commercial value is clear, he added.

"Bangladesh should raise these purchases, but frame it as reciprocity, not a crude quid pro quo: Dhaka is delivering measurable market access and purchases for U.S. producers, so Washington should now deliver measurable implementation of the textile concession -- a firm timetable and a sufficiently large, predictable preferential volume," Quibria said.

With the U.S. Supreme Court undermining the higher tariffs that prompted the trade agreement, some have questioned whether Bangladesh should even abide by it. Malaysia, which had also signed a trade deal with Washington, declared the agreement "null and void" in March. Bangladesh, however, has initiated no similar action.

"In practical terms, walking away from an agreement with the United States would also be extremely difficult given the importance of the U.S. market, particularly for [ready-made garments], and the wider diplomatic relationship," Abdur Razzaque said. Kaniz Fatima is a contributing writer.