Pakistan cuts regulatory duty on imported smartphones by up to 20%
ISLAMABAD: The government has slashed regulatory and additional customs duties on imported mobile phones for the fiscal year 2026-27, bringing down the regulatory duty on premium smartphones priced above $500 from Rs22,000 to Rs17,600 per unit, according to a commerce ministry brief. Under the revised tariff structure, Additional Customs Duty (ACD) has been reduced from 6% to 4% across the listed…
The Pakistani government has reduced regulatory and additional customs duties on imported smartphones for the fiscal year 2026-27. The regulatory duty on premium smartphones priced above $500 has been lowered from Rs22,000 to Rs17,600 per unit, a reduction of 20%. Additionally, the Additional Customs Duty has been decreased from 6% to 4% across various smartphone categories.
This means the reduction on phones above $500 is Rs4,400 per handset. The Ministry of Commerce announced these tariff reductions as part of broader tariff rationalization under the National Tariff Policy 2025-30. These changes come after a significant increase in mobile-phone imports in FY2025-26, which rose from $1.497 billion to $1.888 billion.
The Mobile Device Manufacturing Policy 2020-25 has expired, and a new policy has yet to be approved. However, incentives for mobile manufacturers and assemblers under the expired policy remain protected under the Fifth Schedule of the Customs Act, 1969. These tariff cuts aim to reduce the duty burden on imported handsets while the government promotes domestic mobile-device assembly and manufacturing.
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