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Ijaz Nabi<br />
only one (chemicals), and that too is a much smaller share of <strong>Pakistan</strong>’s<br />
overall exports compared to the share of chemicals in <strong>India</strong>’s exports.<br />
Furthermore, <strong>India</strong> has an impressive network of agricultural research.<br />
A liberal trade and investment regime will allow <strong>Pakistan</strong> to tap into the<br />
pool of <strong>India</strong>n skilled workers and technology to improve international<br />
competitiveness of <strong>Pakistan</strong>i firms. Testimonials by industry specialists<br />
presented in the 2011 <strong>Pakistan</strong> Business Council report emphasize the<br />
spillover benefits of liberalizing trade and the broader economic relationship<br />
with <strong>India</strong> in a host of manufactures such as pharmaceuticals,<br />
automotive parts, textiles, and rubber, but also for agriculture. The spillovers<br />
manifest themselves in terms of access to raw materials, plants and<br />
equipment, <strong>India</strong>’s research networks, project management experience,<br />
and supervisory work forces.<br />
Non-Tariff Barriers<br />
There is a widespread perception in <strong>Pakistan</strong> that the <strong>India</strong>n trade regime<br />
includes a long list of non-tariff barriers that adversely affect trade<br />
volumes despite a statutory liberal tariff regime. This is offered as the<br />
principal reason why <strong>India</strong> imports little from <strong>Pakistan</strong> despite having<br />
given Most Favored Nation status to <strong>Pakistan</strong> unilaterally. The biggest<br />
non-tariff barrier in trade flows, of course, is poor trade logistics and visa<br />
restrictions that hamper businessmen from travelling across the border to<br />
strike trade deals. These non-tariff barriers are the result of poor security<br />
relations between the two countries, and need to be revisited if trade is<br />
to take place on a meaningful scale.<br />
Non-tariff barriers are also justified for health and safety reasons,<br />
and there is evidence that the <strong>India</strong>n trade regime includes such barriers<br />
in its protectionist arsenal. The extent to which these barriers are protectionist<br />
and harmful to regional trade needs to be investigated. <strong>Pakistan</strong><br />
should use this opportunity also to examine its own trade regime for<br />
similar trade-retarding measures.<br />
Anti-dumping measures are another form of non-tariff barrier, especially<br />
when they are invoked by monopoly producers of intermediate<br />
materials. There is evidence that the <strong>India</strong>n trade regime uses antidumping<br />
measures to protect large <strong>India</strong>n manufacturers. However, this<br />
is not a <strong>Pakistan</strong>-specific tactic. Furthermore, the use of anti-dumping<br />
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