Starting August 1, 2025, the United States rolled out new global trade tariffs, following a policy introduced during Donald Trump’s presidency. According to an official White House statement, the US will now charge a 19% tariff on imports from Pakistan, 25% on those from India, and 20% on goods coming from Bangladesh.
The tariff policy categorizes countries into different slabs. Alongside Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Cambodia have also been placed in the 19% tariff group. Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Bangladesh are listed under the 20% group. India, Kazakhstan, and Moldova are subject to a 25% tariff rate.
It has been institutionalized in the form of an executive order by the previous President of the USA. As stated by the White House trade negotiations, bilateral relations, economic balance and national security were used to settle tariff rates.
Another tariff change will be an upward expression of Canadian goods by 10 percent which was previously at 25 percent and now will be at 35 percent. South Africa is charged 30 percent, Switzerland 39 percent, and Syria 41 percent the highest in this policy.
Trade experts say Pakistan has entered the trade with a 19 percent tariff rate due to some recent interactions Pakistani officials had with the US counterparts. They include a meeting of Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir with president trump, a call between the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the US secretary of state Marco Rubio, meetings by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and the deputy prime minister Ishaq Dar in Washington.
This policy shift is expected to influence Pakistan’s export sector, particularly textile exports, and may impact regional trade dynamics.
