WASHINGTON, June 11: Pakistan is seeking a bilateral preferential tariff arrangement with the United States, which would give it access to the US market on a bilateral basis, said Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan, who wound up a week-long visit to Washington on Wednesday.

In return, he said, Pakistan was willing to give the United States market access in the areas of interest to them.

The minister said Pakistan was also close to signing the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) with the United States. He said the two countries should be able to sign this agreement when President Pervez Musharraf arrives in Washington on June 24.

He said Pakistan had failed to take advantage of a 15-per cent increase in US trade quota offered in return for Islamabad’s support to the war on terrorism.

“But because the enhancement was in the categories we do not cover, we exported only $20 million worth of additional goods,” the minister told a news briefing at the Pakistan Embassy.

“We have requested the US government for the reconfiguration of the quota so that it covers the categories we produce,” he added.

The minister said that so far the United States had not given a timeframe for the reconfiguration.

An embassy official Ashraf Hayat, who was assisting the minister, said the new categories Pakistan was seeking would include home textiles such as bedlinens, knitwear and towels.

The minister said that Pakistan had also requested for “an inter-category swing” allowing it to switch over some of the quota from unutilized categories to those were it could utilize them.

The new arrangement, he said, would be finalized later.

During his week-long stay in the US capital, the commerce minister held talks with US officials, lawmakers, businessmen, and representatives of the Pakistani business community. He also visited several think-tanks where he discussed investment opportunities for American businessmen in Pakistan.

“What we are trying to tell the Americans is that since Pakistan is a close ally in the war against terrorism, they should go beyond commercial interests while discussing trade with Pakistan. They should look at their national security interest too,” the minister said.

During the visit, the minister said, he also discussed the status of the Doha development agenda, which allows greater access to developing nations to the North American and European markets.

“We discussed the positions of the United States and the Pakistan government on the areas that are open for negotiation and the Doha development agenda like agriculture, non-agriculture tariffs, services, trade and environment, rules, dispute settlement, etc.”

Mr Khan said Pakistan was willing to negotiate a trade deal with India, “the moment it starts a serious political dialogue with us.”

He said that while Pakistan realized the importance of preferential trade with India and other neighbouring states, it was not yet possible for Islamabad to have a free trade agreement with India. Mr Khan said Pakistan was close to signing a free trade agreement with Sri Lanka.