Islamabad:
As Pakistan fights with a broad commercial deficit, the increase in unemployment and an exodus of multinational companies, experts are urging the Government to adopt a more aggressive protectionist approach, similar to the strategy “America CRACS” of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, to safeguard national manufacturing.
Trump’s economic policy, which was largely based on import tariffs and punitive measures against US companies that outsource production, was summoned by analysts Shahbaz Rana and Kamran Yousaf in Express News Show “The Review” as a model that is worth emulating.
“We want to build, create and cultivate more products in our country using US work, American goods and American sand,” Trump said in a speech on July 17 at the White House while the week “made in the United States” began in its “first America” approach.
Trump not only promoted the American industry: he forced her to return through rates and action threats, analysts said, adding that Pakistan must do the same if we want to avoid economic collapse. “We need to follow Trump’s strategy: protect the local Pakistan industry.”
Pakistan’s commercial deficit increased by 33% by just three months, reaching $ 9.4 billion, according to official data. Meanwhile, the main companies such as Procter & Gamble, Telenor, Microsoft and Gillette have closed operations or reduced significantly.
Analysts attribute this decrease to a combination of sudden rates reductions, growing costs of doing business and a lack of protection against imports thrown, particularly China. In June, the Government reduced import tariffs during the night, a measure that critics say that it left local manufacturers vulnerable to very subsidized and low -price imports.
The most intense sectors include steel, paper and board, electronics, pharmaceutical products, construction materials, textiles and food containers. Industry agencies report that Chinese exporters routinely modify product specifications to avoid existing anti -dumping measures, flooding the market with almost identical goods at prices below the market.
According to analysts, efforts to combat discharge have also been hindered by legal obstacles. Although the National Tariff Commission (NTC) has imposed duties in several cases, manufacturers complain that the application is weak due to prolonged legal battles and judicial interference. “Once they impose duties, the cases crawl to the courts, sometimes for years,” analysts said.
“Even after the final decisions, the application is still uncertain,” said the analysts, describing “the unfair discharge as a death sentence for the Pakistani industries.”
A recent IMF report on Pakistan’s judicial system found commercial disputes that obstruct the courts, with slow award that damages the confidence of investors and the application of policies.
Local manufacturers also indicate structural disadvantages that prevent them from competing fairly:
• High fiscal load: The corporate tax is 29%, with an additional 10%taxes and taxes on dividends, which carries the total effective tax burden above 50%.
• Costa services: Electricity and supplies costs in Pakistan are still significantly higher than in regional competitors.
• Problematic Commercial Agreements: The 2005 Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China, and its extended phase II signed in 2019, opened to the Pakistani markets to foreign goods without appropriate safeguards for local industries.
As national companies close, unemployment continues to rise. The World Bank has attributed growing poverty in Pakistan in part to a bankruptcy economic model that prioritizes trade on industrial development.
Analysts warn that once local businesses leave the market, importers who initially threw cheap products often increase prices, create monopolies and contribute to inflation. “This is a classic domino effect,” analysts said. “First comes deindustrialization, then employment losses and, finally, the long -term economic dependence of imports.”
Industry leaders urge Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to take immediate corrective measures. Recommendations include the reconstruction of rates protections for vulnerable sectors; Empower NTC with faster application mechanisms; Reform the commercial court system to avoid endless litigation; reviewing trade agreements that expose local manufacturers to unfair competition; and publish the Report of the Rule of Law of the IMF to increase transparency and responsibility
“There is a clear option to the government,” analysts said. “Do we continue on the way to feed foreign industries and kill jobs at home, or do we take bold measures to build a manufacturing economy and protect national economic sovereignty?”
The analysts said that if we want Pakistan to survive economically, we must follow Trump’s strategy, not in words, but in a hard and apologies action.
