Disappointment greets US trade benefit package for Pakistan
As predicted, the Bush administration’s package of trade benefits for Pakistan, unveiled today, has yielded far less than Islamabad had been hoping for. (See sportstextiles.com story; ‘US expected to offer reduced Pakistan export aid package - 11.02.02’).
The Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, had been looking to secure trade concessions worth more than $1 billion, including the suspension of U.S. tariffs and quotas on Pakistan textile and apparel products through to the end of 2004. Reflecting mounting concern over US textile job losses, however, the package announced today totalled only $142 million. Crucially, it also excludes tariff cuts, being limited to an increase in so-called base quotas and an adjustment that will allow Pakistan exporters to use unfilled portions of existing quotas to boost apparel exports.
Expressing its disappointment, the Pakistan Textile & Apparel Group said that up to half of the 3.5 million to 5 million jobs in the country's textile and apparel sector could now be lost.
