IF EVER there was a case for immediate trade liberalization, American barriers to Pakistani textile exports are it. As a direct consequence of the political uncertainty caused by the American bombing of Afghanistan, Pakistan's textile industry is losing orders from American companies, with the result that an estimated 10,000 Pakistani textile workers have lost their jobs. By abolishing tariffs on Pakistani textile imports, the United States could offset the shock and perhaps dampen the popular anti-Americanism that threatens Pakistan's commitment to the coalition against terrorism. The European Union has already announced duty-free access to its markets. Yet the administration and Congress have not so far delivered. The American textile lobby, representing the special interests of a small industry, is being allowed to compromise the national interest.
Pakistan sells just under $2 billion of textiles to the United States annually, a sum that accounts for fully a fifth of the country's merchandise exports. On top of that, it sells textiles to other countries that sew them into clothes for the American market, so that Pakistan's exposure to the United States is enormous. But since Sept. 11, American buyers have had cold feet about sourcing from Pakistan. Usually they would be placing orders for next spring's season now, but the flow of business is said to be down 40 percent.
Even if American trade policy were flawless, there would be a case for making special concessions to Pakistan now. But American trade policy is far from flawless. The United States imposes an average tariff on Pakistani textiles of 15 percent, and all such taxes on desperately poor country producers are shameful. Moreover, the United States imposes a quota on Pakistani yarn even though this has been ruled illegal by the World Trade Organization's dispute settlement panel. Abolishing both the tariff and the quota would be the right step even if Pakistan were not suffering from the war in Afghanistan. In the current circumstances, it is especially urgent.
The administration and Congress are gearing up to help Pakistan with debt relief and aid, and both steps are welcome. Now the congressional resistance to trade concessions must be overcome. It makes no sense to give a country aid in the hope of increasing job opportunities for poor workers while simultaneously pursuing trade policies that result in thousands of job cuts.
