Pakistan Plans to Buy More US Cotton, Soybean to Woo Trump And Get Tariff Discount

Pakistan is willing to increase imports of US cotton and soybeans to reduce the bilateral trade surplus with the United States to below $2 billion and appease Donald Trump in hopes of relief on trade tariffs, reported Bloomberg. The move aims to mitigate the impact of tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump earlier this month. In the financial year 2023-24, Pakistan’s trade surplus with the US stood at approximately $4 billion. The country, already the second-largest buyer of US cotton by value after China, is looking to lower this gap primarily through additional agricultural imports. The US remains Pakistan’s largest export destination, driven largely by sales of textiles and garments. The current plan prioritizes commodity imports over more costly options such as crude oil. The federal government has considered purchasing more crude oil, but high shipping costs have limited consensus on the matter. A strategy report on the issue was presented to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on April 9. Formal responses from the Prime Minister’s Office remain pending.