Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb held productive trade talks with US officials in Washington on Friday, meeting with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer to resume bilateral discussions.

“Both sides expressed satisfaction with the progress in enhancing trade and economic ties, a cornerstone of Pakistan-US bilateral relations,” Pakistan’s finance ministry said in a statement.

The statement said Aurangzeb emphasised that the US remained Pakistan’s largest trading partner. Both sides expressed optimism that ongoing trade talks would yield positive outcomes, benefiting the economies of both countries, the finance ministry said.

Pakistan faces a 29% tariff on exports to the US under President Donald Trump’s measures to target countries with large trade surpluses with the US Pakistan’s surplus will be around $3 billion in 2024.

Pakistan was optimistic that the trade talks would conclude in a week’s time after a virtual meeting between Aurangzeb and Lutnick late last month.

According to Reuters, the talks followed an earlier submission by a Pakistani delegation outlining a comprehensive list of US demands, including reductions in both tariff and non-tariff trade barriers.

Although Islamabad initially hoped to finalise the deal by early July, sources familiar with the matter say negotiations are taking longer than expected due to the complexity of the requirements. Islamabad has already offered to import more US goods, including crude oil, and to open up investment opportunities through concessions for US firms in Pakistan’s mining sector.

US-Pakistan relations saw a major boost when Trump hosted Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, at the White House last month in an unprecedented meeting.

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