Trump says Pakistani officials visiting US next week for trade talks
US President Donald Trump said that representatives from Pakistan are coming to the United States next week as the South Asian country seeks to make a deal on tariffs.
Pakistan faces a potential 29% tariff on its exports to the United States due to a $3 billion trade surplus with the world's biggest economy, under tariffs announced by Washington last month on countries around the world.
Trump’s remarks came a day after Pakistan officially initiated talks with the United States on a reciprocal tariff agreement, as Islamabad aims to capitalise on Washington’s growing interest in strengthening trade ties with South Asia.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and US Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer launched the negotiations during a telephonic discussion on Thursday, an advisor to the finance minister confirmed on X (formerly Twitter).
“Pakistan representatives are coming next week. We're very close to a deal with India. I wouldn’t be interested in deals with either if they were going to be at war with each other,” Trump told journalists.
U.S. President Trump says Pakistan’s representatives are arriving in Washington D.C. next week for U.S.-Pakistan bilateral negotiations on a trade deal: pic.twitter.com/z8QnvQ5j1H
Earlier this month, Islamabad floated the idea of a bilateral trade agreement offering zero tariffs on select goods.
“Pakistan is offering to enter into a bilateral agreement with zero tariffs on selected tariff lines, with mutual interests, to expand bilateral trade across multiple sectors,” sources told The Express Tribune.
Islamabad’s offer came after the US president brokered a ceasefire agreement between Pakistan and India following tit-for-tat military strikes between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
President Trump claimed credit for preventing an apocalyptic war between the two arch-rivals which “could have killed millions of people.”
Meanwhile, a high-level political delegation from Pakistan, led by PPP Chairman and former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, is set to arrive in New York on June 2.
The visit aims to present Pakistan’s perspective on its recent military tensions with India, following the Pahalgam attack.
The delegation includes PPP Senator Sherry Rehman, Federal Minister Musadik Malik, senior PML-N leader Khurram Dastgir Khan, former foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar, and former foreign secretaries Jalil Abbas Jilani and Tehmina Janjua.
During their two-day stay in New York, the delegation will meet with United Nations officials and engage with international media.