Joint Committee Highlights Need to Protect Households Connected with Auto Sector

The Joint Committee on Finance and Revenue and on Industries and Production met to review the impact of recent cuts to regulatory duty on used car imports and to press for measures that protect Auto Sector Households. Lawmakers said the policy shift could unsettle jobs that depend on local vehicle assembly and parts supply. Joint Committee Protects Auto Sector Households is now a core demand from legislators who asked for a measured approach to duty changes.

Committee members noted that Pakistan currently produces roughly 150,000 vehicles a year and that local production has only slowly recovered over the last two decades. The panel warned that rapid liberalization of used car imports risks reversing recent localization gains and reducing orders for parts makers and small suppliers. The Joint Committee Protects Auto Sector Households call reflects concern that entire supply chains could lose stable demand.

Officials from the commerce ministry told the forum that the government agreed to allow commercial import of used cars up to five years old as part of IMF-linked tariff reforms. The new regime will start with an extra 40 percent regulatory duty and then phase that levy down over the next years. Industry representatives argued that a steady and consultative phase-down is needed to avoid sharp job losses.

The Joint Committee advised rationalization in relation to the regulatory duty to safeguard livelihoods. Parliamentarians pointed out that the auto industry and its side industries support the living of many families in terms of parts shops, sales shops, and after-sales services. This committee requested an evident timeline, other support avenues to the local parts makers, and the observation of importation, which was used to ensure that the tasks were not lost, as well as maintaining the prices affordable to individuals.

Practical steps proposed by the committee include a staged duty timetable, targeted credit lines for vulnerable suppliers, and quality checks on imported vehicles to protect local industry standards. The forum also asked relevant ministries to present fast, actionable plans so that policy changes include safeguards for workers and small businesses. The Joint Committee Protects Auto Sector Households remains the guiding message from this session.