APTMA Demands 18% Tax on Cotton Imports Now

Islamabad, July 20, 2025, 11:47 AM PKT — The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) has issued an urgent appeal to Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, demanding the fulfillment of a budgetary pledge to impose an 18% sales tax on imports of cotton fibre, yarn, and greige fabric while keeping them under the Export Facilitation Scheme (EFS), as outlined in a letter from Chairperson Kamran Arshad. Arshad pressed the minister to honor the budget speech promise to equalize tax treatment for local and imported goods, noting APTMA’s initial push for exclusion was met with a commitment to tax alignment, yet over a month post-budget and three weeks since passage, the Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) remains unissued, despite a July 15, 2025 deadline.

This delay coincides with the new cotton crop’s arrival, where no buyers emerge due to an uneven playing field, slashing demand for local cotton, yarn, and greige fabric. Textile exports, vital at over half of Pakistan’s total, rose $1.5 billion in FY 2024-25, but imports soared $1.5-2 billion, inflicting a net balance of payments loss. The current account teeters, propped by low oil and gas prices, an unsustainable fix, as policies undermine domestic value addition. APTMA warns of mill closures, business migration, and job losses for hundreds of thousands unless the SRO is issued immediately to safeguard growers, spinners, and exporters, and meet fiscal/export goals. Web context shows ongoing tax disputes, while posts found on X reflect urgency—some demand action, others doubt policy resolve. Critically, the narrative of “export support” may mask policy inertia—web data hints at past delays, and X sentiment suggests distrust in timely execution, pointing to escalating risks.