KARACHI: An adviser to the Pakistani finance ministry said this week the United States had shown “keen investment interest” in Pakistan’s oil and gas sector and noted that the country enjoyed one of the most competitive US tariff rates in the region.
Last week, the US administration imposed a 19% reciprocal tariff on a wide range of Pakistani goods, significantly lower than the initially proposed 29%, under a sweeping new executive order signed by President Donald Trump. In long-drawn out trade talks, Islamabad had been aiming for a tariff less than regional trade rivals such as Vietnam, which had a 20% tariff imposed by Trump, and India, on whose goods an additional 25% tariff was imposed this week, with the US president citing New Delhi’s continued imports of Russian oil.
“Pakistan stands at 19 % [US tariffs], the lowest in South & Southeast Asia,” Khurram Schehzad, Adviser to the Finance Minister of Pakistan, wrote in a post on social media platform X.
“In addition, US showed its keen investment interest in Pakistan’s Oil & Gas sector to build massive reserves.”
President Trump has imposed an additional 25% tariff on India, taking the total US tariff to 50%!
