Bangladesh will import wheat from the United States for the first time. The move comes as an effort to reduce the trade deficit between the two countries, as currently the U.S. imports more goods and services from Bangladesh than it exports to the country. On July 20, the Ministry of Food signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with U.S. Wheat Associates to that effect. According to sources, four consignments of wheat have already departed from Texas. The first shipment is expected to arrive in Bangladesh on October 24 or 25. Payment will be made to the Singapore-based Agrocorp International’s bank account in Singapore, the third-party supplier in the deal.
However, questions have been raised by both local and U.S.-based business circles regarding the terms and structure of the import agreement. They argue that the nutritional grade of wheat being imported is relatively expensive compared with current international market prices. They also question why a Singapore-based company has been involved as an intermediary despite the presence of several reputable U.S. wheat exporters. Some believe this process contradicts the United States’ stated goal of narrowing its trade deficit with Bangladesh.
Following the July 20 agreement, the Ministry of Food said in a statement that the MoU was signed to strengthen Bangladesh’s overall food security and ensure the supply of high-quality, nutritious wheat. Under the five-year deal, Bangladesh will import 700,000 tons of premium-grade wheat annually from the United States at competitive prices. The MoU was signed by Md Abul Hasanat Humayun Kabir, director general of the Directorate General of Food, on behalf of Bangladesh, and Joseph K Sowers, vice president of U.S. Wheat Associates, on behalf of the United States.
Under the contract, the Directorate General of Food is the buyer, and Agrocorp International Pte Ltd, based in Singapore, is the seller. The agreement was signed between these two parties, with Agrocorp nominated by U.S. Wheat Associates. According to the deal, the seller will supply 220,000 tons of U.S.-grown milling wheat from the 2025 or the latest crop season to the buyer.
According to the payment terms in the contract, the buyer will open an irrevocable letter of credit (LC), under which 95 percent of the payment will be made upon receiving the shipping documents. The remaining 5 percent will be paid after the quality assessment and final inspection report. The agreement specifies that the wheat must contain at least 11.5 percent protein (on a dry matter basis). Any consignment failing to meet this standard will be rejected.
The contract sets the price at $302.75 per ton, inclusive of product cost, insurance, freight, and other incidental expenses. The seller will bear all taxes and charges in its own country, while the buyer will cover all such expenses in Bangladesh.
Under the LC terms, the wheat will be shipped from any U.S. port and received at Bangladesh’s Chattogram and Mongla ports—60 percent at Chattogram and 40 percent at Mongla. The LC also lists the United States as the country of origin.
To help narrow the trade deficit, Bangladesh signed an MoU with the United States on July 20 to import 700,000 tons of wheat annually. Two days later, on July 23, the Advisory Committee on Government Purchase approved the purchase of 220,000 tons of wheat from the United States at a cost of BDT 8.17 billion, or $302.75 per ton, from Agrocorp International Pvt Ltd, an authorized partner of U.S. Wheat Associates.
On October 7, the committee chaired by Finance Adviser Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed approved another government-to-government (G2G) deal to import the same amount of wheat from the United States. The proposal, placed by the Ministry of Food, was cleared at a total cost of BDT 8.25 billion, with the price set at $308 per ton, to be procured again from Agrocorp International Pte Ltd.
Traders claim that the wheat being imported from the United States is priced higher than alternatives. On June 25, the Advisory Committee on Government Purchase decided to import 50,000 tons of wheat from Cereal Crops Trading LLC, a company based in the United Arab Emirates, at $275 per ton. By comparison, importing wheat from the United States costs up to $33 more per ton.
After the committee’s meeting on July 23, which approved the import of 220,000 tons of U.S. wheat, Finance Adviser Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed said, “Approval has been given to import 220,000 tons of wheat from the United States. The rationale is that we want to diversify a bit. At times, uncertainties have emerged in the Russian or Ukrainian blocs. Negotiations are underway to expand imports from the United States. The quality of U.S. wheat is good.”
Asked whether the U.S. wheat price was relatively high, Dr. Ahmed said, “Even if the price is a little higher, we will gain in other ways. The protein content of U.S. wheat is also slightly higher. It’s not much higher, but a bit more.”
According to the World Bank’s Pink Sheet data, the price of high-protein wheat from the United States was $268.7 per ton in 2024. In Q1 (January–March) of 2025, the price dropped to $258 per ton and continued to decline over the next two quarters. In Q2 (April–June), it fell to $242.2, and in Q3 (July–September), the price of high-protein wheat from the U.S. averaged $233.3 per ton. Meanwhile, the average price of low-protein wheat from the United States in 2024 was $230.9 per ton. Over the first three quarters of 2025, the price steadily decreased to $233.9, $219.4, and $206 per ton, respectively.
On condition of anonymity, the head of a major importing company told Bonik Barta, “The price of the wheat being imported seems relatively high, given its protein content of 11.5 percent. A price of $302 per ton would only be reasonable if the protein level were around 13.5 percent. In the international market, wheat is currently priced at $275 to $280 per ton. For U.S. wheat, the minimum would be around $279 to $283. If the import had been made through an open tender, we could probably have secured a more competitive price. But since the deal is being handled through a Singapore-based company, the higher price might reflect their commission and shipping costs from the United States.”
A businessman involved in wheat import and freight operations told Bonik Barta, “The main reason for the higher price is Agrocorp. The Singapore-based company has no U.S. ownership, and there are questions about its credibility. The price might have risen due to the company’s commission and the added costs from commission-sharing arrangements.”
According to the contract, Bangladesh’s state-owned Sonali Bank’s local office issued a letter of credit in Singapore on behalf of Agrocorp International. The LC is sight-payment-based, meaning payment will be made immediately upon verification of trade documents. The exporter’s bank is Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore. Once the shipment is delivered, Agrocorp will submit its documents to its account at the Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore, where the payment from Bangladesh will be deposited.
A businessman, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “Even though the wheat is coming from the United States, the payment will go to Singapore because of the third-party intermediary. After deducting their commission, the money might then be transferred to the United States. In international trade, third-party involvement is not new, so that part is fine. But how the United States will impose reciprocal tariffs or calculate trade deficit adjustments with Bangladesh in this arrangement is unclear.”
However, an official from Bangladesh Bank told Bonik Barta, “When Bangladesh calculates its trade volume with the United States, the country of origin of the goods will be taken into account, even if the payment is made in Singapore. Therefore, the trade deficit or surplus figures should not be affected.”
Another official of the central bank told Bonik Barta, “In Bangladesh, this shipment will be treated as an import from the United States because the country of origin is the U.S., and the wheat was exported directly from there. Although the LC payment was made to a Singapore-based trader, if the U.S. producer or exporter lists the Singaporean trader as the buyer or consignee on the shipping documents, then the U.S. trade statistics will count the shipment as an export to Singapore. Since the invoice and export-related documents would list Singapore as the destination, U.S. trade data would categorize it as a shipment to Singapore. In that case, Bangladesh should not be recorded as a U.S. trade partner for this transaction.”
The official further said, “When the United States calculates reciprocal tariffs, this transaction will likely be counted as trade between the U.S. and Singapore, not between the U.S. and Bangladesh. Therefore, Bangladesh is unlikely to receive any tariff benefits under this process.”
According to sources at the Ministry of Food, a U.S.-based wheat exporting company sent an email on October 6 to the Food Secretary and the Director General of the Directorate General of Food, expressing concern about the involvement of a non-U.S. company in the government’s wheat import deal. The email stated that although the agreement is being carried out under a U.S.-based trade framework, the involvement of a third-country company is deeply concerning and appears misaligned with the U.S. administration’s strategic efforts to promote direct engagement with U.S.-based exporters.
In the email expressing concern over the wheat import arrangement, the exporter wrote that the fundamental intent of the U.S. administration’s trade initiatives is to ensure direct engagement of U.S.-based exporters. Whether under an MoU or any nomination made under its auspices, the participation of a non-U.S. company contradicts that purpose.
The email further stated that the financial transactions — particularly the establishment of letters of credit — were being processed through a third country and outside the U.S. banking system. This practice, the email mentioned, falls outside the scope of direct trade with the United States and undermines the objectives of the MoU. It added that from the perspective of the Ministry of Trade, the goal of the agreement was to reduce the U.S. trade deficit with Bangladesh by purchasing U.S.-produced wheat. Similarly, from the Ministry of Finance’s standpoint, the payment mechanism should have been designed with the United States in mind. In both cases, the involvement of a non-U.S. company and the routing of payment to that entity in a third country represents a significant deviation from the core principles and goals set forth by the U.S. administration.
The email also noted that presenting the participation of a non-U.S. company operating from a third country as part of U.S.-Bangladesh trade is highly questionable. It said such transactions cannot, by any recognized economic or commercial definition, be considered a legitimate contribution to reducing the U.S. trade deficit with Bangladesh, regardless of any nomination under the MoU. These practices, the email highlighted, not only deviate from the intended structure of bilateral engagement but also misrepresent the fundamental objectives of trade and economic cooperation.
Regarding the issue, Ali Imam Majumder, adviser to the Ministry of Food, told Bonik Barta, “Our agreement is with U.S. Wheat Associates. The wheat will come from the United States. Agrocorp is their local agent.”
Asked whether the payments for the wheat imports would be made in Singapore, the adviser said, “It will be done wherever the principal directs. The agreement was made with the United States to reduce the trade deficit. The ships are coming from the United States, and the quality certificate will be issued by U.S. Wheat.”
When asked if this process would actually reduce the U.S. trade deficit with Bangladesh, he replied, “It will reduce it to some extent. But given the size of the trade deficit, importing wheat alone won’t make much of a difference. We have an agreement with the United States. The wheat is coming from there. Where the U.S. takes the payment is their matter. The U.S. Embassy is a signatory witness to the agreement.”
For more information on the issue, Bonik Barta emailed officials at U.S. Wheat Associates and the U.S. Embassy in Dhaka on October 7. No response had been received as of this report’s filing.