Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has arrived in the United States to revive crucial trade negotiations ahead of an August deadline. According to Bloomberg, the U.S. earlier gave Pakistan a long list of conditions, demanding it reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers to move forward with any trade agreement.
Unnamed sources confirmed that negotiations have taken longer than expected. Pakistan had hoped for a deal by early July, but talks extended. The finance minister did not respond to requests for further comment on the matter. His visit reflects Pakistan’s urgency to secure trade benefits amid economic reforms.
Relations between Islamabad and Washington appear to be improving after months of diplomatic chill. Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump gave a warm welcome to Field Marshal Asim Munir at the White House. Following that, Pakistan even recommended Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize, indicating warming ties.
Pakistan has also been expanding into digital finance. In April, it signed a letter of intent with the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial to promote blockchain adoption in the country. This signals Pakistan’s growing interest in advanced technologies to boost trade and investment.
Earlier this week, the Ministry of Finance stated that “encouraging progress” has been made in trade discussions following Munir’s visit. Pakistan, which has a $3 billion trade deficit with the U.S., is now seeking relief from 29% retaliatory tariffs and is also offering to increase imports of American cotton and soybeans to help balance trade.