US President Donald Trump said on Friday that representatives from Pakistan are coming to the United States next week as Islamabad seeks to make a deal on tariffs.

Pakistan faces a potential 29 per cent tariff on its exports to the US due to a $3 billion trade surplus with the world’s biggest economy, under tariffs announced by Washington last month on countries around the world.

Pakistan’s formal negotiations with the United States on reciprocal tariffs started earlier in the day with a phone call between Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, a press release from the finance ministry said.

“Pakistan representatives are coming in next week,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews after departing Air Force One.

“And India, as you know, we’re very close to making a deal with India. And I wouldn’t have any interest in making a deal with either (Pakistan and India) if they were going to be at war with each other. I went that and I let them know,” the US president stressed.

The developments follow a recent military confrontation between Pakistan and India over New Delhi’s allegations against Islamabad, without evidence, about a deadly attack in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam.

New Delhi, based on the allegations, launched a series of air strikes in Pakistan in early May, killing civilians. Islamabad responded by downing five Indian jets. After intercepting drones sent by India on May 8 and tit-for-tat strikes on each other’s airbases, it took American intervention on May 10 for both sides to finally reach a ceasefire.

Indian Trade Minister Piyush Goyal visited Washington recently to advance trade talks, with both sides aiming to sign an interim agreement by early........

© Dawn Business