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some non-tariff barriers more intensively on Pakistani products. It is also reassuring that a large proportion of the sample sees prospects for joint ventures down the road, leading to greater intra-industry specialisation. It also needs to be stated that the analysis of trade complementarity focuses
only on trade diversion, in which India performs better, but full liberalization of trade could also lead to some trade creation. Overtime, Pakistan
maybe able to create a market, for example, for products like low horsepower (below cc) motorcycles which are very competitively priced in Pakistan and for various autoparts and accessories and light tractors. Also, the emergence of a large trade imbalance with India, generally
or in the automotive sector, is not necessarily a bad outcome, if it means cheaper imports and a saving in the overall import bill. Also, importantly, there could be significant consumer welfare gains if cheaper Indian imports substitute for more expensive imports from existing sources.
This could happen, for example, if autoparts from India of comparable quality are available as opposed to more expensive imports from countries like Japan or Thailand. This will lead to a decline in domestic costs of production. Further, in the presence of Indian imports, the high profits of many OEMs who currently operate
in quasi-monopolistic markets, as discussed in Chapter 5, will come under pressure to reduce prices and bring profits down to more reasonable levels. If this happens, particularly in the case of buses and trucks, then this will benefit majority of the population.
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