 "Pakistan to send delegation to Washington for tariff talks despite Trump’s 90-day delay")
Pakistan will send a high-level delegation to Washington in the coming weeks to negotiate new US tariffs, a government source confirmed on Thursday, just hours after former president Donald Trump announced a temporary 90-day suspension of the measures that have shaken global trade markets.
Washington last week announced a sweeping 29 per cent tariff on Pakistani imports, as part of a broader move to tighten trade rules with key partners. This threatened to hit Pakistan’s critical export sectors— particularly cotton and textiles— at a time when the country’s economy is yet far from recovering from a crippling financial crisis.
Late on Wednesday (April 9), Trump announced a pause on the full imposition of the tariffs, extending a 90-day window for talks but insisting that a baseline rate of 10 per cent would still apply to all countries, including Pakistan.
In response, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office said Islamabad would go ahead with plans to send officials to the United States. On Thursday (April 10), AFP cited a senior official from the Ministry of Commerce confirming that the visit would proceed as planned.
“A high-level government delegation is scheduled to depart for Washington in the coming weeks to hold talks with US officials,” the official said, adding that Pakistan would seek relief and reassurances on its core exports.
Fragile recovery under pressure
The looming tariffs pose a fresh challenge to Pakistan’s fragile economic recovery. The country narrowly avoided sovereign default in 2023, when a toxic mix of political turmoil, currency depreciation, and ballooning debt prompted the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to step in with a $7 billion bailout package.
Since then, the economy has shown modest signs of stabilisation. Inflation has cooled from last year’s highs, and foreign exchange reserves have begun to inch upward. But any serious disruption to trade—particularly with the United States, one of Pakistan’s key export markets—could unravel those gains.
Impact Shorts
View AllAccording to the Office of the US Trade Representative, total trade between the two nations reached $7.3 billion in 2024, with the US importing $5.1 billion worth of goods from Pakistan. Cotton and textiles remain the bedrock of that trade relationship.
Diplomatic overtures amid shifting alliances
News of the delegation came as a US team led by State Department official Eric Meyer met Prime Minister Sharif in Islamabad on Wednesday. A statement from Sharif’s office said both sides “expressed the desire to strengthen bilateral ties,” though no specifics on trade were released.
The visit and upcoming talks mark a rare moment of high-level diplomatic engagement between Washington and Islamabad, whose once close relationship has cooled in recent years.
Following the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, Pakistan’s strategic significance to American foreign policy has diminished. Cooperation is now largely confined to counterterrorism efforts and occasional economic consultations.
With inputs from AFP
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