Pakistan says it’s ‘very close’ to a trade deal with Trump

Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar claimed his country is “very close” to locking down a tariff deal with the US ahead of President Trump’s fast-approaching Aug. 1 deadline for the “Liberation Day” levies to take effect.

Dar met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and predicted a deal is just days away as the Trump administration scrambles to finalize agreements with countries before the deadline.

“I think we are very close to finalizing a deal with the U.S.,” Dar said during an appearance at the Atlantic Council think tank Friday. “Our teams have been here in Washington, discussing, having virtual meetings and a committee has been tasked by the prime minister to fine-tune now.”

“It’s not going to be months, not even weeks, I would say days.”

Since Trump unveiled his “Liberation Day” tariffs, a deluge of countries have been negotiating with his team to cut lightning deals.

Trump repeatedly agreed to postpone the implementation rate for most of those tariffs, with the most recent deadline being Aug. 1 to give more time for negotiations to play out.

So far, he has locked down tariff deals with the United Kingdom, Vietnam, Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines. The Trump administration also has a tariff truce with China, where there is an Aug. 12 deadline to ink a broader deal.

At the moment, Trump has imposed a 10% baseline tariff rate on almost all imports, tariffs on Chinese imports, 25% tariffs on automobiles, aluminum, and steel, as well as 25% on imports from Canada and Mexico that don’t comply with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

Total US trade with Pakistan clocked in at about $7.3 billion last year, according to the Office of the US Trade Representative.

The State Department and Pakistan also confirmed the two sides held talks on trade issues, but didn’t reveal a timeline for a deal getting finalized.

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Earlier this year, fighting erupted between India and Pakistan after the Pahalgam terrorist attack near India’s administered Jammu and Kashmir. The incident sparked a chain of events that led to India firing missiles into Pakistan.

Pakistan responded in kind. The two countries, which have been mired in decades-long tensions over Kashmir, are both nuclear-armed, which has led to elevated concerns about the conflict spiraling out of control.

A ceasefire was announced between the two in May. Trump has since publicly taken credit for helping to mediate the differences between the two sides.

Last month, Pakistan announced plans to nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize over his “decisive diplomatic intervention” during the conflict with India.