KARACHI: The Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PHMA) has urged Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif to declare an ‘export emergency’ and convene an urgent consultative meeting to safeguard Pakistan’s value-added apparel and textile exports amid growing external and domestic challenges.
In an SOS appeal sent to the prime minister, the PHMA warned that the proposed European Union-India Free Trade Agreement (EU-India FTA), coupled with additional US tariffs and Pakistan’s rising cost of production, has pushed the country’s textile sector to the brink of a serious crisis. The association said the value-added textile industry earns $5-6 billion annually and provides large-scale employment, particularly to women.
The PHMA noted that Pakistan’s duty-free access to the EU under the GSP+ scheme could be undermined once India secures preferential access through the EU-India FTA without being bound by similar compliance conditions. This, it said, would create a structural disadvantage for Pakistani exporters.
The association also highlighted recent US-India trade developments, stating that reduced tariffs on Indian textile exports have strengthened India’s competitiveness in the US market, while Pakistani exports continue to face higher tariff burdens, increasing their landed cost in Pakistan’s largest export destination.
Calling for immediate government intervention to protect textile exports worth $18 billion, PHMA demanded restoration of the Export Facilitation Scheme to its 2021 framework, reversion to the Fixed Tax Regime for exporters, regionally competitive energy tariffs, and expedited implementation of the National Apparel and Textile Policy 2025-2030.
While welcoming the prime minister’s recently announced relief measures for industry, the PHMA said the steps were insufficient given the scale of the crisis and stressed the need for immediate formal notifications to ensure effective implementation.
The PHMA urged the prime minister to lead an urgent meeting with the federal cabinet and textile exporting associations, warning that any delay could cause irreversible damage to Pakistan’s largest export-earning sector.
