Textile council urges Pakistan PM to seek US tariff relief

The Pakistan Textile Council has urged Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif to raise trade and tariff concerns with U.S. leaders during his upcoming visit to Washington, warning that new trade arrangements benefiting India and Bangladesh threaten Pakistan’s competitiveness in the American market.

In a letter addressed to the prime minister, the council referred to its earlier correspondence dated Feb. 3 regarding the India-United States trade understanding and the implications of reciprocal tariffs on Pakistan’s textile and apparel exports.

The council expressed gratitude for the government’s recent support for export-oriented industries, including relief in energy tariffs and export financing, which it said had provided “much-needed stability during a challenging macroeconomic phase”.

However, it said the competitive landscape had shifted further after India secured reduced reciprocal tariffs with the United States and concluded free trade agreements with the United Kingdom and the European Union.

Bangladesh has also reached an understanding with Washington under which U.S. tariffs have been reduced, and selected apparel and textile products — particularly those made from U.S.-origin cotton and man-made fibers — are expected to receive duty-free access.

“These developments collectively introduce new, policy-driven cost advantages for Pakistan’s principal competitors in the U.S. market,” the letter said.

The council noted that Sharif’s planned visit to Washington on Feb. 18-19 to attend the inaugural leaders’ meeting of President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace presents “a timely and valuable opportunity” to engage U.S. leadership on Pakistan’s trade and tariff concerns.

While the meeting is expected to focus on Gaza’s post-war reconstruction and related humanitarian issues, the presence of senior leaders offers an appropriate setting for parallel discussions on broader economic and trade matters, the letter said.

The textile and apparel sector operates on thin margins and is highly sensitive to even modest tariff differences, the council said. With India and Bangladesh securing preferential outcomes through proactive engagement, Pakistan risks losing price competitiveness, buyer confidence and long-term orders without corrective measures.

The council proposed that Pakistan seek a “calibrated and targeted outcome” with the United States, including a reduction to most-favored-nation level tariffs by removing reciprocal tariffs on approximately 200 key tariff lines. Those lines account for nearly 90% of Pakistan’s textile and apparel exports to the United States, the letter said.

It described the proposal as commercially meaningful and aligned with precedents established for competing countries.

The council also emphasized the need for domestic reforms to complement external engagement. It called for further rationalization of taxes on the documented export sector, regionally competitive wage and labor policies, and investment-linked tax credits to encourage balancing, modernization and replacement investments.

“These measures are essential to preserving Pakistan’s manufacturing base, sustaining employment, and enabling the sector to compete on quality, compliance and reliability rather than price alone,” the letter said.

The council said it remains available to provide detailed product-level data and industry input for any U.S. engagement or related policy deliberations.