ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the United States on Thursday began a two-day round of high-level trade negotiations in Washington aimed at easing tariff tensions and laying the groundwork for a broader economic partnership.
The talks come as a temporary 10% US tariff imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 is due to expire later this month, with both sides seeking to replace a series of temporary trade measures with a more stable bilateral framework.
Pakistan is also seeking lower duties on exports to the US, its largest single-country export market, while officials say the negotiations could pave the way for an “Agreement on Reciprocal Trade.”
The Pakistani delegation, which arrived in Washington for talks on Thursday and Friday, is led by Federal Commerce Secretary Jawad Paul. It also includes Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi, Joint Secretary for Tariff Policy Ashfaq Khan and Secretary for Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis Nadeem Chaudry.
Senior officials from other ministries are expected to participate virtually in the talks.
“The purpose of the talks is to further strengthen trade relations between Pakistan and the United States, facilitate bilateral trade, explore new opportunities for economic cooperation and pave the way for diversifying and expanding existing trade,” Andrabi said while explaining the rationale behind the talks.
The negotiations follow more than a year of shifting US trade measures and legal challenges that have repeatedly altered the tariff landscape for Pakistani exports.
The dispute began in April last year, when US President Donald Trump invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose a 29% tariff on Pakistani exports as part of a broader package of global trade measures.
Following talks between Pakistani officials and the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), the proposed tariff on Pakistani goods was reduced to 19%.
That arrangement was upended in February when the US Supreme Court ruled, by a 6-3 majority, that the White House had exceeded its constitutional authority by imposing broad tariffs under the IEEPA, effectively invalidating the measure.
The Trump administration subsequently invoked Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to impose a temporary 10% global tariff for up to 150 days, a measure due to expire on July 24.
Separately, the USTR last month proposed a 10% tariff covering Pakistan and 59 other economies following a Section 301 investigation into forced labor standards and import restrictions.
Pakistan has submitted legal and regulatory documentation challenging the proposed measure ahead of the talks.
