Washington, May 31 (ANI): Labor advocates have stepped up pressure on the Obama administration, calling it to revoke Bangladesh's special trade status.
The call from labor advocates come after several deadly factory disasters in Bangladesh, including the collapse of an eight-story garment factory last month that left at least 1,127 people dead.
They want the Obama administration to convey its disapproval of working conditions in Bangladesh.
According to the New York Times, federal officials have remained conflicted over the American government's responsibility for safer labor conditions overseas.
Some officials, particularly in the State Department, have said that if trade status is revoked, Washington will lose its leverage to pressure Bangladesh to improve building codes and labor rights.
Bangladesh is among more than 125 countries that receive breaks on United States tariffs under a World Trade Organization programme, the Generalized System of Preferences, intended to promote economic growth around the globe, the report said.
The United States trade representative is to decide the fate of the country's trade status in June.
In meetings this month to discuss the disasters, officials from the State and Labor Departments agreed that Bangladesh had failed to improve labor rights sufficiently, but they disagreed over what to do about it, the report added. (ANI)
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