Pakistan and the United States ended a commercial agreement on Wednesday night, which is expected to reduce tariffs, although a figure was not announced, while the president of the United States, Donald Trump, cited a pact aimed at helping to develop Pakistan’s oil reserves.
The Minister of Finance, Muhammad Aurengzeb, is currently in Washington for negotiations on a rate agreement and also began meetings with senior US officials on Wednesday.
“In a historical development, Pakistan and the United States ended a commercial agreement today aimed at promoting bilateral trade, expanding access to the market, attracting investments and promoting cooperation in areas of mutual interest,” Pakistani Embassy published Thursday in X on Thursday morning.
Trump announced the agreement on his Truth Social platform early Thursday morning.
“We have just concluded an agreement with the country of Pakistan, for which Pakistan and the United States will work together in the development of their huge oil reserves,” Trump wrote.
“We are in the process of choosing the oil company that will lead this association. Who knows, maybe they will sell oil to India one day!”
There was no formal announcement of any of the parties on which rate rate was agreed, but the Pakistani embassy said the agreement “will result in a reduction in the reciprocal rate, especially in Pakistani exports to the United States.”
“This agreement marks the beginning of a new era of economic collaboration, especially in energy, mines and minerals, IT, cryptocurrencies and other sectors,” said the embassy.
“The agreement complements the existing efforts of Pakistan to expand the scope of the economic ties of Pak-United States and include associations at the United States level. The agreement improves Pakistan’s access to the US market and vice versa.”
The agreement reached a Aurengzeb meeting, United States Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and the ambassador of the United States commercial representative, Jamieson Greer. The Secretary of Commerce, Jawad Paul and the Pakistan ambassador, in the United States Rizwan Saeed Sheikh were also present during the meeting.
The Pakistan embassy said that the agreement is expected to stimulate a greater US investment in Pakistan infrastructure and development projects.
“This commercial agreement underlines the commitment of both nations to deepen their bilateral relationship and explore all the ways to strengthen commercial and investment ties.”
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked Trump for his leadership role in the end of the “Historical Commerce Agreement of the United States of Pakistan”, saying in a position on X that “this historical agreement will improve our growing cooperation to expand the borders of our lasting association in the days to come.”
Early this morning, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar also confirmed the trade agreement, but did not provide details.
More to follow
