Pakistan delays FTA-II signing with China at last moment
Pakistan recently put on hold the signing of a revised free trade
agreement (FTA) with China at the last moment due to strong
reservations regarding the final offer list shared by Beijing, according
to the country’s
minister of state for finance Rana Muhammad Afzal. He was briefing the
National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance on the FTA’s second
phase.
The
Chinese ambassador to Pakistan reportedly held recent meetings with the
Pakistani commerce secretary and Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to
push the deal. The standing committee expressed concern over what it
termed the secret nature of the FTA-II talks, according to Pakidtani
media reports.
The business community of Pakistan’s textile hub Faisalabad voiced serious reservations over the final offer list by China.
Till
now, both sides have held ten rounds of negotiations for finalising the
FTA-II. However, the industry and Federal Board of Revenue fiercely
resisted after the commerce ministry revealed in an internal meeting
that Pakistan would offer zero duties on 75 per cent of imported tariff
lines, the reports said.
Under
first phase of the FTA, Pakistan gave duty concessions on 35 per cent
of tariff lines, which led to a huge influx of Chinese goods and many
local industries could not survive.
Afzal
regretted that the commerce ministry did not take all stakeholders into
confidence before offering huge concessions to Beijing. Trade with
China was already one-sided and if further concessions are offered, no
industry would survive in Pakistan, he cautioned. (DS)
Source: The Express Tribune, Pakistan Thursday, 12 April 2018