
Pakistan and the US finalised a trade deal on Wednesday night, expected to lower tariffs — although no figure was announced — as well as an agreement in which Washington will help develop Islamabad’s oil reserves, the two sides said.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb is currently in Washington for negotiations on a tariff deal and also began meetings with senior US officials on Wednesday.
“In a landmark development, Pakistan and the United States finalised a trade agreement today aimed at boosting bilateral trade, expanding market access, attracting investment, and fostering cooperation in areas of mutual interest,” the Pakistani embassy in the US posted on X on Thursday morning.
US President Donald Trump announced the deal on his platform Truth Social early Thursday morning.
“We have just concluded a deal with the country of Pakistan, whereby Pakistan and the United States will work together on developing their massive oil reserves,” Trump wrote.
“We are in the process of choosing the oil company that will lead this partnership. Who knows, maybe they’ll be selling oil to India some day!”
There was no formal announcement from either side on what tariff rate was agreed upon, but the Pakistani embassy said the agreement “will result in reduction of reciprocal tariff especially on Pakistani exports to the United States.”
“This deal marks the beginning of a new era of economic collaboration especially in energy, mines and mineral, IT, cryptocurrency and other sectors,” the embassy said.
“The deal complements Pakistan’s existing efforts of broadening the scope of Pak-US economic ties and to include partnerships at the US states level. The agreement enhances Pakistan’s access to the US market and vice versa.”
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked Trump for his leadership role in finalising the “historic US-Pakistan trade agreement”.
“This landmark deal will enhance our growing cooperation so as to expand the frontiers of our enduring partnership in days to come,” he said in a post on X.
Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar also confirmed the trade deal but provided no details.
More to follow