US President Donald Trump, while reiterating that he helped to de-escalate tensions between Pakistan and India, said that the United States is doing “big deals” with the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
Speaking at a press conference alongside South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday, Trump said, “If you take a look at what we just did with Pakistan and India, we settled that whole thing, and I think I settled it through trade.”
“We’re doing a big deal with India. We’re doing a big deal with Pakistan.”
The US is Pakistan’s largest export market with over $5 billion in annual exports as of 2024, while Pakistan’s imports from the US are about $2.1 billion.
Trump praises ‘brilliant’ Pakistanis, says Islamabad ‘would love to trade with US’
In April, Trump ignited a potentially ruinous trade war as he slapped sweeping tariffs on imports worldwide and harsh additional levies on key trading partners. Pakistan was hit by a 29% reciprocal tariff, which was put on hold until July.
Last month, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb told Bloomberg in an interview that Pakistan wants to buy more goods from the United States and remove non-tariff barriers to escape Trump’s high tariffs.
Meanwhile, commenting on the recent tensions between Pakistan and India, Trump said, “Somebody had to be the last one to shoot. The shooting was getting worse and worse, deeper into the countries.
“We spoke to them, and I think you know we got it settled, and then two days later, something happens, and they say it’s Trump’s fault.”
Trump tariffs to ‘weigh on’ Pakistan’s economy, says IMF
Ties between Pakistan and India nosedived after a deadly attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) last month that New Delhi said was backed by Islamabad.
Pakistan denied involvement, but intense fighting broke out when India struck what it said were “terrorist camps” in Pakistan. They agreed on a ceasefire, which has largely held.
