The Bangladesh government on Friday expressed its outrage against Washington's decision to cut trade privileges in the wake of a deadly garment factory collapse.
Bangladesh is insisting that all possible safety precautions have been implemented in the wake of the disaster to safeguard factory workers in the country.
"It cannot be more shocking for the factory workers of Bangladesh that the decision to suspend Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) comes at a time when the government of Bangladesh has taken concrete and visible measures to improve factory safety and protect workers' rights," said the Bangladeshi foreign ministry in a statement on Friday.
The U.S. government announced Thursday that it was removing Bangladesh from the list of 127 countries which enjoy duty free trade privileges.
In a proclamation, President Obama said Bangladesh was not taking concrete actions to offer internationally recognized workers' rights to employees in the country.
However, the U.S. Trade Representative Mike Froman said fresh discussions will be held with the Bangladeshi government on improving workers' rights that could restore the duty-free benefits, according to the Associated Press.
United States lawmakers have been pressing for action since the collapse of Rana Plaza in Dhaka on April 24 that killed 1,129 people.
Last November, a fire at a garment factory in the country killed more than one hundred people.
"The recent tragedies that needlessly took the lives of over 1,200 Bangladeshi garment factory workers have served to highlight some of the serious shortcomings in worker rights and workplace safety standards in Bangladesh," said Mike Froman.
Washington's action, set to take effect in 60 days, may influence a similar move the European Union, which is said to be considering taking away duty-free trade-privileges of the South Asian country.