The United States and Pakistan hailed a trade deal on Thursday that Islamabad said would lead to lower tariffs and increased investment, but without specifying the level of tariff to be levied on Pakistani exports.
“This deal marks the beginning of a new era of economic collaboration especially in energy, mines and minerals, IT, cryptocurrency and other sectors,” the Pakistan finance ministry said in a statement following a final round of talks in Washington.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, who led the final round of talks, said there was a larger economic and strategic agreement.
“From our perspective, it was always going beyond the immediate trade imperative, and its whole purpose was, and is, that trade and investment have to go hand in hand,” he said, in video-taped remarks.
Pakistan had faced a potential tariff of 29%, which was later suspended – as with other nations – to allow trade talks up to an August 1 deadline. Islamabad was aiming at a tariff less than regional trade rivals such as Vietnam, which had a 20% tariff imposed by Trump, and India, which is threatened with a 25% tariff.
