Pakistani newspaper slams Shehbaz Sharif govt as India, US clinch trade deal: 'We never took serious efforts ...'

File Photo of PM Modi and US President Donald Trump

• US to cut tariffs on Indian goods from 25% to 18% under new trade deal
• India to buy $500 billion in US goods, halt Russian oil purchases
• Pakistan urged to pursue comprehensive US trade agreement amid changing tariffs

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The interim trade agreement between India and US represents a significant departure from New Delhi’s traditional trade posture and reflects a broader realignment in a rapidly changing global trade environment, according to an op-ed in Dawn by a senior Pakistani trade policy expert.

Under the joint statement issued on February 6, 2026, US agreed to reduce its reciprocal tariff on Indian goods from 25 percent to 18 percent, while India committed to eliminating or substantially lowering tariffs and non-tariff barriers on US industrial goods and a wide range of agricultural products. India also said it will purchase $500 billion worth of US goods over the next five years and halt buying Russian oil.

The Dawn article by Dr Manzoor Ahmad said that the agreement “represents a stark break from India’s long-standing trade posture” and “comes close to a capitulation under sustained pressure”.

However, a join statement by India and US indicated that New Delhi resisted Washington’s push to broadly open its agricultural market. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said the agreement safeguards farmers’ interests and rural livelihoods by "completely protecting sensitive agricultural and dairy products".

The article noted that the trade deal between India and US carries vital implications for Pakistan too, which is currently facing 19% tariffs.

It noted that America is Pakistan’s largest single-country export destination, with imports exceeding $5 billion and a trade surplus of around $3 billion in Pakistan’s favour.

Changes in US tariff structures or market access conditions under an expanded India-US trade framework could directly affect Pakistan’s key export sectors, particularly textiles and apparel, it said.

Despite this exposure, the article criticised Pakistan for failing to pursue a comprehensive bilateral trade agreement with US, noting that Islamabad never took any "serious efforts" to negotiate a pact.

"Instead, it has relied on seeking unilateral tariff preferences or proposing narrow and largely symbolic arrangements covering a limited number of products," it said, adding that such "fig leaf agreements" yielded little in terms of sustained market access or export diversification.

It noted that Pakistan has been left increasingly marginalised in global trade due to such policies adopted by the Shehbaz Sharif government.

Ahmad emphasised the need for Pakistan to rethink its trade policy vis-a-vis US.

The US-Pakistan trade agreement was finalised in late July 2025 after negotiations in Washington. The pact includes an agreement to jointly developm Pakistan's untapped oil reserves — primarily in Balochistan, Sindh, Punjab, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

President Trump had hailed it as a "historic" energy partnership on Truth Social while Pakistan's PM Shehbaz Sharif and finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb praised enhanced market access in US, infrastructure investments and cooperation across sectors including cryptocurrency. Pakistan also scrapped its 5% digital services tax on US firms as part of the deal.