ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has devised a strategy to give India a befitting reply for its ‘trade terrorism’, according to which Pakistan will immediately put 90 Indian trade items in negative list and impose 200 percent regulatory duty on its products, ARY News reported.
According to details, the trade ministry has devised a four-point policy for India which would be sent to the National Assembly for approval.
The ministry said Pakistan would immediately put several Indian products in the negative list as it had prepared a list of 90 such Indian products. The ministry said this would stop India’s exports up to 600 million dollar. Apart from this, Pakistan would impose 200 percent regulatory duty on Indian products, it added.
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The trade ministry officials said India’s withdrawal of Most Favoured Nation status will not affect Pakistan. This status was just a show-off as different non-tariff barriers were imposed on Pakistani products.
The officials said Pakistan could stop Indian exports under the Afghan Transit Trade as well.
They said the trade war will inflict more damage to India. “In Pak-India trade, volume of India’s exports is 1.8 billion dollar, while Pakistan only exported 350 million dollar products.”
On February 17, Prime Minister’s Advisor on Commerce Razak Dawood had said Pakistan would consider all available choices to retaliate after the India’s decision to withdraw the status of Most Favoured Nation (MFN) for Pakistan.
“Pakistan may revoke concessions to India under the South Asia Preferential Trade Agreement (SAPTA) and may also take up the issue in the World Trade Organisation,” Razak Dawood had said.
New Delhi revoked its MFN status to Pakistan on February 14, after the attack on Indian forces in Pulwama. The neighbouring country had granted this status to Islamabad in 1995.
MFN status is accorded by one state to another in international trade under the WTO. It means that a country will treat all WTO member states equally in matters of tariffs on imports.
