Assessing the impact of US tariff policies on Bangladesh’s textile sector: a Dhaka Stock Exchange perspective

Abstract

The following report outlines the details of my internship experience at BRAC EPL Stock Brokerage Ltd (BESL). BESL is one of the leading brokerage houses in the country. I had the privilege of working as a Research Intern for 12 weeks. Based on my 12- week journey, I came up with a project titled, “Assessing the Impact of US Tariff Policies on Bangladesh’s Textile Sector: A Dhaka Stock Exchange Perspective”. The paper is divided into 3 papers. Firstly, Chapter 1 covers my overall experience at the firm. This chapter outlines details about my on-site supervisor, my job responsibilities and duties, the difficulties that I had faced during my tenure, and finally, some recommendations that might help the company on improving the experience of future interns. Secondly, Chapter 2 covers an analysis about BESL. It covers about several departments of the company and how it functions, at the same time, the mission, vision, values and achievements are also outlined in this chapter. Also, an industry and competitive analysis is carried out on BESL as well an assessment of its financial performance over the past 5 years. Thirdly, Chapter 3 covers the project. For this project, data has been collected from DSE. For the analysis, the RMG sector was analyzed in terms of its market cap; large, medium and small. On the basis of the market cap, an event study methodology was adopted to understand how the stocks reacted to the tariff. A before announcement, after announcement, and after tariff reduction announcement analysis was done. Also, an abnormal return analysis was also carried out. Finally, I conclude, that the medium cap firms were negatively impacted after the tariffs were announced over the small and large cap as they had more customers based in the US. Based on the analysis in the project, recommendations have been provided aiming to improve performance of medium cap textile firms.