KARACHI: US President Donald Trump’s move to double tariffs on Indian goods presents a “strategic opening” for Islamabad to deepen its trade partnership with Washington, Pakistan’s finance adviser Khurram Schehzad said on Thursday.
Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday to place an additional 25 percent tariff on India on top of a 25 percent tariff that went into effect on Thursday. The move made India one of the most heavily taxed US trading partners in Asia.
Pakistan, India’s traditional arch-rival, has meanwhile improved its ties with Washington. Pakistan and the US finalized a trade agreement last week under which a 19 percent tariff was imposed on a wide range of Pakistani goods. The new rate marked a considerable reduction from the initially proposed 29 percent under a sweeping executive order signed by Trump.
“The US tariff hike on Indian goods presents a strategic opening for Pakistan,” Schehzad told Arab News.
Washington’s 19 percent tariff on Pakistani goods makes them less expensive than Indian goods, making Pakistan one of the countries with the lowest tariff profiles in the region.
