ISLAMABAD: When former US President Donald Trump threatened to impose punitive tariffs on Pakistani goods, Islamabad moved with unusual speed to protect its lucrative export market. At stake was Pakistan’s growing surplus with the United States over $ 4 billion, with exports reaching $ 6.028 billion in FY2024-25 against imports of just $ 2 billion. Trump’s warning rattled policymakers, who feared that even limited US tariffs could derail one of Pakistan’s strongest and most reliable trade relationships.
According to officials familiar with the matter, the Ministry of Commerce quietly engaged in back-channel talks and took several undisclosed steps to appease Washington. These measures, never formally announced, were designed to increase Pakistan’s imports from the US in order to narrow the gap and show goodwill. From agriculture products to high-value machinery, Pakistan quietly opened its market to more American goods, even when domestic producers raised concerns about competitiveness. The entire effort was kept deliberately low-profile to avoid political backlash at home, but it underscored how Pakistan can bend under pressure from powerful partners when its economic interests are threatened.
The contrast with China could not be sharper. Pakistan’s exports to China have stagnated around $ 2.5 to 2.7 billion in recent years, while imports have ballooned to nearly $ 17 billion, leaving a gaping trade deficit of over $ 14 billion. In earlier years, imports from China even touched $ 20 billion against barely $ 3 billion in exports. Despite repeated claims of “all-weather friendship” and multiple rounds of Free Trade Agreement concessions — including sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) protocols and technical barriers to trade (TBT) frameworks Islamabad has failed to secure meaningful access for its goods in the Chinese market. Pakistani exporters complain that non-tariff barriers and Beijing’s own industrial advantages keep their products sidelined, while local industries face rising costs and weak government support.
Observers note that while Pakistan scrambled to protect its surplus with the US by secretly expanding imports to placate Trump, no such urgency has been shown in dealing with China, where the deficit is far more damaging. Instead, Pakistan continues to ship raw cotton, copper, and seafood to China, only to re-import the same materials in processed, value-added forms at higher prices. The imbalance drains foreign reserves, stifles local industry, and exposes Pakistan to long-term dependency.
The episode highlights a broader weakness in Pakistan’s trade diplomacy: the ability to respond quickly to Western pressure while showing passivity toward China, its largest trading partner. Experts warn that unless Pakistan builds institutional capacity, enforces value addition, and diversifies its export base, the country will remain trapped in an unequal trading order, bending to the demands of others while neglecting its own long-term interests.
