The federal government has decided to start talks with the Trump administration over the 29% tariff the United States has placed on Pakistani goods.
According to sources, the government is working on a plan to deal with the effects of this extra tariff and is looking into ways to convince US officials to lower it through negotiations.
In this regard, a crucial meeting was held at the Ministry of Commerce under the chairmanship of Federal Minister for Commerce, Jam Kamal Khan.
The meeting, which included over fifty key exporters, importers, and stakeholders, focused on the potential effects of the 29% tariff, particularly on Pakistan's textile exports.
The session analysed how the new US tariffs could negatively impact Pakistan’s textile sector, which forms the largest part of the country’s exports to the US.
Pakistan exports over $5.5 billion worth of goods to the US every year, with textiles making up a large portion of that trade.
Now, the government is planning to enter talks with the Trump administration to try and reduce the newly imposed tariffs. To handle the matter, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has set up a working group and a steering committee, led by Finance Minister Mohammad Aurangzeb, to create a strategy and coordinate the response.
The decision follows President Donald Trump’s move on Wednesday to impose additional tariffs on goods from 60 countries, including Pakistan, as part of a push to boost revenue, fix the trade balance, and encourage people to buy American-made products by limiting imports.
The decision was surprising for Pakistani authorities who were not expecting the inclusion in the list on the grounds that the US trade weighted average tariffs were already higher than Pakistan. The country was also on the 33rd number on the list of the nations with whom Washington had a trade deficit.
