Dastgir to seek more concessions on exports

He will meet his Chinese counterpart and premier to discuss issues of mutual interest

ISLAMABAD:

During his five-day visit to China, Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir will seek more tariff concessions from Chinese authorities on Pakistani exports under the China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement phase-II.

Dastgir left for China on Monday to lead Pakistan in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting, starting from Wednesday.

According to sources in the Ministry of Commerce, besides attending the SCO meeting, he would meet the Chinese premier and commerce minister to discuss issues of mutual interest.

“The minister, in particular, will take up issues relating to tariff concession on Pakistani exports under the free trade agreement, the discussions on which are already under way at the official level in Pakistan and China,” an official said.

“This will be the first meeting at the political and ministerial level to discuss the reduction in export tariffs by further improving the already signed free trade deal between the two countries,” he added.

Earlier, during negotiations, the Pakistani side had sought zero tariff on 80% of export goods after five years and zero tariff on 90% of exports after 10 years.

In response, Pakistan offered China zero tariff on 50% of items after five years and on 80% of items after 15 years.

According to sources in the Ministry of Commerce, Pakistan seeks more concessions from China because not only the latter is a bigger economy, but also because the country has extended more concessions during the first phase of the free trade agreement.

The Chinese team has not yet given a final response to the requests and clarified that these concessions will be shared with the stakeholders in China before taking any final decision.

The Pakistani authorities explained that current proposals for the Tariff Reduction Modalities (TRM) are based on extensive data analysis and consultation with the stakeholders.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 15^th,  2015.

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