ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s tariff rationalisation drive has reshaped the country’s import composition with nearly two-fifths of the total import bill entering duty-free during the outgoing fiscal year (FY26), official data showed on Thursday.
The figures suggest a marked shift in the composition of imports towards duty free industrial inputs aimed at lowering input cost and improving competitiveness, while a majority of commodity imports remained dutiable.
The official data, available with Dawn, showed that imports worth $27.02 billion, or 39.2 per cent of the total import bill of $68.99bn, entered the country without customs duties, while $41.97bn, or 60.8pc, remained subject to import duties in FY26.
The government has implemented the second-phase of the five-year Tariff Reform Plan (2025-2030) in the budget for FY27 by slashing additional customs duty (ACD) on 3,149 tariff lines and reduced regulatory duties (RD) to 20pc on more than 1,900 tariff lines.
Concessions increasingly target industrial inputs
