Washington rules out trade agreement with Islamabad

ISLAMABAD:

US Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker finally admitted publicly that the Obama administration no longer has the ability to get legislative approval for any trade agreements with Pakistan, and hence is focusing on getting more US businesses to invest in Pakistan.

Pritzker urged Pakistan to fix its bureaucracy and address what she described as an “inconsistent and unfair” tax regime, cautioning that if the government did not remove such impediments to American businesses, US companies may move to other places.

Placing the private sector at the heart of US-Pakistan relationship, Pritzker admitted that the Obama administration was no longer in a position to get a US-Pakistan trade agreement approved by the United States Congress, so their entire focus will remain on “business to business connections”.

She was speaking at the third US-Pak Business Opportunities Conference and later on talked to a group of journalists at the US Embassy.