Industrialist Says Pakistan's Tariff Comparison Is Flawed

Industrialist Amir Ullah Wala claims the government misused tariff measures when comparing Pakistan's import duties with regional peers.

NationPulse Desk

Oct 15, 2026 · 12:47 PM 2 min read

Key takeaways

Amir Ullah Wala said Pakistan's 18.54% tariff figure mixes duties, unlike the customs-only rates used for India and Bangladesh.

WTO data list Pakistan's simple average customs tariff at 10.3% in 2023, versus 17% for India and 14.1% for Bangladesh.

The national tariff policy targets a drop from 20.1% to 9.7% import duty by 2030, a 52% reduction.

Dr. Rubina Athar noted Pakistan's 18.5% rate does not include sales tax or withholding tax.

Wala said export weakness also stems from security, geography, market access, electricity costs, interest rates and taxes.

Industrialist Amir Ullah Wala said Pakistan's national tariff policy misrepresents the country's import duty level compared with regional economies, arguing the government used inconsistent measures. He made the remarks at the 39th international conference and annual meeting of the Pakistan Society of Development Economists.

Wala explained that Pakistan's reported tariff rate of 18.54 percent combines additional customs duties and regulatory duties, whereas the numbers cited for India, Bangladesh and other neighbours reflect only customs duties.

World Trade Organization data, he noted, show Pakistan's simple average applied customs tariff at 10.3 percent in 2023, versus 17 percent in India and 14.1 percent in Bangladesh.

He said the inclusion of different duty types solely for Pakistan creates an uneven regional comparison. The national tariff policy lists the 18.54 percent rate as made up of a 10.3 percent customs duty, a 3.65 percent additional customs duty and a 4.57 percent regulatory duty.

A Commerce Ministry spokesperson responded that the 18.54 percent figure represents Pakistan's overall average import duties and added that the WTO does not count para-tariffs when calculating simple average tariff rates in its profile reports, though interpretations vary.

Former National Tariff Commission chair Dr. Rubina Athar, involved in drafting the policy, said the duty definitions differ between Pakistan and other countries and that the 18.5 percent rate excludes other import-stage taxes such as sales tax and withholding tax.

Tariff Policy Board member Dr. Manzoor Ahmad said both Wala's and Athar's figures are valid within their own contexts.

The policy aims to lower Pakistan's import duty rate from 20.1 percent to 9.7 percent by 2030, a reduction of about 52 percent, prompting concern among industrial groups.

Wala also argued that weak export performance cannot be blamed only on high import tariffs, citing security and geographic issues, limited market access in Africa, Central Asia and South America, high electricity costs, elevated interest rates and higher regional taxes as additional factors.

The Commerce Ministry noted the WTO relies on information supplied by individual countries when determining tariff rates.

Questions and answers