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WASHINGTON: U.S. President Donald Trump announced today (July 31st) the completion of a bilateral trade agreement with Pakistan, looking forward to a strategic energy partnership aimed at jointly exploring and developing substantial oil reserves in both countries.
Under the terms of the deal, Washington and Islamabad will collaborate to select a lead oil company to spearhead exploration efforts, with the potential, Trump hinted, for Pakistan to one day export oil to India.
At the same time, Trump used his social media platform ” Truth Social” to impose a 25 per cent tariff on Indian imports, effective August 1, and warned of additional unspecified penalties should India continue to purchase Russian oil and military equipment.
This move marks the culmination of a tariff policy first floated in April, when a 26 percent reciprocal tariff was announced but subsequently delayed and underscores the administration’s frustration with what Trump characterizes as India’s high duties on U.S. goods and its defence-and-energy ties with Moscow.
Beyond these headline measures, Trump reiterated his “America First” mantra by targeting major U.S. corporations’ global manufacturing strategies. He publicly blocked Tesla’s proposed plant in India, echoing his February remarks that allowing Tesla to build there would be “unfair” to American workers and directed Apple to shift iPhone production back to U.S. soil or face at least a 25 percent tariff on all foreign-made devices.
The new Pakistan agreement follows intense negotiations led by Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, who travelled to Washington this month to iron out reciprocal-tariff provisions and broaden market access for U.S. goods such as crude oil and mining-sector investment incentives. Meanwhile, U.S.-India trade talks remain in flux, with both sides engaged in last-minute efforts to stave off the full force of Trump’s August 1 tariff deadline.
These developments arrive amid a broader reshuffling of U.S. trade policy, as the administration simultaneously negotiates with the European Union, Japan, South Korea, and other partners. Trump frames these measures as necessary steps to correct long-standing imbalances and protect American jobs, but critics warn that sweeping tariffs risk igniting a global trade war and undermining fragile multilateral agreements.
