Signed in Secret: The Trade Pact, Boeing Purchase, and a Vaccine Crisis
Just three days after Sheikh Hasina’s fall, when Dr. Muhammad Yunus seized control, many breathed a sigh of relief and believed Bangladesh had been rescued. People hoped the nation could finally move forward. But those hopes soon collapsed like a house of cards. Analysts now say what he did in his final days in office was unprecedented — bluntly put, no leader has inflicted such damage on the country.
On February 9, only three days before the 13th National Parliamentary Election, Dr. Yunus’s caretaker government quietly signed a sweeping pact with the United States: the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART). “Reciprocal” suggests equal exchange, but the 32-page text tells a different story. While the country prepared for elections and the Yunus government prepared to leave, he bound Bangladesh’s future to a legally enforceable document. By the time the public grasped what had happened, it was too late.
A simple grammatical rule exposes the imbalance. In legal English, “shall” imposes obligation; “will” often signals intent. The ART uses “shall” 179 times and “will” only 3 times. Worse, “Bangladesh shall” appears 131 times, while “US shall” appears only 6 times. In practice, Bangladesh would be legally bound in 131 areas and the United States in just 6. Analysts argue this exposes the pact’s true nature: not a mutual trade deal but a blueprint for control.
What would Bangladesh be forced to do? The list is vast. Broadly, Bangladesh must give priority access to US agricultural goods; it cannot add extra approval requirements or inspections on American vehicles and machinery; it cannot levy discriminatory taxes on US digital firms; state-owned enterprises could not subsidize local producers in ways that disadvantage US products; even purchases of nuclear reactors or fuel rods would be constrained by Washington’s preferences. If Bangladesh later signs a major trade deal that Washington deems harmful to US interests, the United States could cancel ART and reimpose punitive tariffs. In short, the agreement’s continued existence would rest on American approval.
And what did Bangladesh gain? Preferential access for garments and textiles to the US market — but only if Bangladesh bought cotton, synthetic fibers, or textile inputs from the United States. The more it bought from the US, the greater the benefits. In effect, Bangladesh must purchase from America to earn the pact’s promised advantages. The Centre for Policy Dialogue estimates that Bangladesh would have to remove tariffs on 7,132 American product shipments over the next decade, with tariffs on 4,922 items falling to zero immediately. The result: lost revenue, costlier imports, and policymaking increasingly shaped by US interests. Analysts say the gains are minimal while the costs are enormous.
The controversy did not stop there. Sixty hours before the election, the interim government signed another deal — the purchase of 14 aircraft from Boeing. Critics say a state contract worth billions executed without open tender violates the law. On May 1, Biman Bangladesh Airlines finalized the purchase: roughly $3.7 billion (about 454.08 billion taka), with deliveries beginning in October 2031 and completing by 2035. Many argue that amid global economic uncertainty and domestic fiscal strain, Bangladesh cannot responsibly commit to such an outlay.
Beyond unequal deals, analysts point to what they call a catastrophic public-health failure that has endangered hundreds of children. The Yunus administration replaced UNICEF procurement of measles vaccines with an open tender process in September 2025. UNICEF reportedly warned this could disrupt supply chains; the change allegedly went ahead regardless. Bangladesh’s measles-rubella vaccine stock ran out, supplementary campaigns were delayed or canceled, and in 2025 only 59 percent of children reportedly received the measles vaccine.
The consequences surfaced in 2026. Since mid-March, more than 50,000 suspected measles cases have been reported and over 400 children have died. infectious-disease hospitals in Dhaka are overwhelmed, with children treated on floors for lack of beds. The World Health Organization has warned that decades of vaccination progress have become fragile. Former IEDCR adviser Mohammad Mushtaq Hossain says the crisis reflects deep structural weaknesses beyond mere shortages. Calls have followed to declare a public-health emergency. What had been a rare disease in Bangladesh has, critics say, become epidemic under Dr. Yunus’s year-and-a-half administration.
So what has Bangladesh achieved under Dr. Yunus? Analysts find little to point to. Instead, they argue the country has backslid dramatically in eighteen months. Critics say the interim government betrayed the nation, shattered millions’ hopes, and pursued narrow interests while pushing Bangladesh into deep uncertainty. The pressing question now is whether the next government can pull the country back from this precipice.
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