Washington (TDI): US President Donald Trump said on Friday that representatives from Pakistan are coming to the United States next week as Islamabad seeks to make a deal on tariffs.
Pakistan faces a potential 29% tariff on its exports to the US due to a $3 billion trade surplus with the world’s biggest economy, under tariffs announced by Trump in April on countries around the world.
Pakistan’s formal talks with the US on reciprocal tariffs began earlier in the day with a phone call between Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance.
Trump said he would have no interest in making a deal with Islamabad or New Delhi, if they were to engage in war with each other.
The developments follow a recent military standoff between India and Pakistan over New Delhi’s allegations against Islamabad, without evidence, about a deadly attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s (IIOJK) Pahalgam.
Read More: Trump Calls Pakistanis ‘Brilliant’, Pushes Trade for Peace
India, based on the false allegations, carried out air strikes in Pakistan in early May, martyring civilians. Pakistan responded by shooting down five Indian fighter aircrafts. After intercepting drones sent by New Delhi on May 8 and tit-for-tat attacks on each other’s airbases, it took US intervention on May 10 for both sides to finally reach a ceasefire.
“As you know, we are very close making a deal with India,” Trump told journalists at Joint Base Andrews after departing Air Force One.
Read More: Pakistan Looks to Collaborate with Trump Administration: PM
Indian Trade Minister Piyush Goyal visited the US recently to advance trade negotiations, with both countries aiming to ink an interim deal by early July. India faces 26% tariffs on exports to the US.
India is expected to allow American companies to bid for contracts worth over $50 billion, mainly from federal entities, as it talks a trade agreement with the US.
Farkhund Yousafzai is an Associate Editor at The Diplomatic Insight.
