of India has recently ended Trade agreements The US response seems to have been drawn out Pakistan On his own negotiations with Washington on a trade agreement against tariffs. India left after cutting an 18 percent tariff on its exports, while Pakistan faces a 19 percent tariff, including a White House dinner with Islamabad’s army chief Asim Munir and a US presidential nomination, despite showing warmer ties with Washington in recent months. Donald Trump For the Nobel Peace Prize.
Many in Pakistan were surprised that India was able to negotiate a more favorable deal. (Reuters/File Photo)Pakistan, which has been lobbying Trump for months for a better trade deal, bowed to the pressure and nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize and supported his inclusion. Peace Board. However, it does not seem to have succeeded in securing a good deal with lower tariffs.
Meanwhile, India has secured lower tariffs and a deal that “fully” protects key sensitivities in the Indian agriculture and dairy sectors, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal told Parliament on Wednesday.
Many in Pakistan were surprised that India was able to negotiate a more favorable deal without what Trump described as too much appeasement, according to several social media posts.
Pakistanis on India-US trade dealFormer Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) minister Hammad Azhar described the result as a failure of procedure. “Foreign policy in the 21st century is not about optics or personal relationships. It is about economic power, tariffs and market access benefits. India’s recent trade deals with the EU and the US prove this point. Sycophancy and photo ops are useless,” he wrote in X.
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Pakistani economist Javed Hasan said India was able to secure better terms without nominating Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. He wrote in X: “India didn’t nominate Trump for the Nobel Prize, yet gets a better tariff deal than Pakistan. What has Trump really given Pakistan except an opportunity to apply an extra layer of cherry blossom?”
The trade deal, announced on February 2, caps US tariffs on Indian exports at 18 percent. Pakistan is subject to a rate of 19 percent despite critics’ claims that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir have lobbied protractedly in Washington.
Opposition leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) claimed that India negotiated lower tariffs while maintaining its “strategic autonomy”. They argue that Pakistan ended up with a high rate only after what they described as a personal outreach by the army chief.
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Zubair Ahmed Khan, a popular X user from Karachi who is ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants)-qualified, says that despite huge efforts, Pakistan has not matched India’s results.
He posted on X: “So all the epic proportions of this imposed regime with Trump even after Israel took over for the peace board, Pak ended up with 19% US tariffs while India now imposes 18% US tariffs. Great foreign policy achievement!”
India-US trade agreementThe new agreement between India and the US is expected to benefit several export-driven and labor-intensive industries. Notably, Washington agreed to cut tariffs on Indian goods from 50 percent to 18 percent and to grant zero-tariff access to a wide range of products, as noted. Earlier HT report.
Earlier, Trump had said on Truth Social that it was an “honour” to speak with Modi, describing him as his “best friend”. He added that both leaders were “two people who get things done” and said India had agreed to stop buying Russian oil and buy $500 billion worth of US energy and technology.
Other competing exporters face higher tariffs in the US market. Vietnam is subject to 20 percent, Malaysia 19 percent, Bangladesh 20 percent, Cambodia 19 percent and Thailand 19 percent.
