Bangladesh to buy 220 thsd tons of US wheat to ease trade tensions with Washington

Agrocorp International, a Singapore-based trading house authorized by U.S. Wheat Associates. The deal follows a memorandum of understanding signed in July, under which Bangladesh will import 700,000 tons of U.S. wheat annually for the next five years. The agreement is part of Dhaka’s effort to diversify its grain sources and strengthen trade ties with the United States, reducing dependence on lower-cost wheat from the Black Sea region. Bangladesh currently relies heavily on Black Sea suppliers for cheaper wheat, while importing smaller volumes of higher-quality grain from the United States and Canada for blending and milling improvement. In previous years, the country also received U.S. wheat and other grains as food aid through USAID, a program that was discontinued earlier this year after the agency’s dissolution by the Trump administration. Officials said the latest deal is part of a broader strategy to reduce Bangladesh’s $6 billion trade deficit with the United States and to ...