The Pakistan 5% EV import duty being discussed comes from the draft Auto Policy 2026–31, and it would apply to small electric cars valued under $15,000 for the policy's first two years.
It is a proposal. The Pakistan Auto Policy 2026–31 draft has the Prime Minister's approval but still needs the federal cabinet and parliament, and no notification exists.
The interesting part is not the rate. It is that nobody has said what the $15,000 is measured on, and that question decides which cars qualify. Our piece on the proposed EV parts duties covers the components side of the same policy.
What the Proposed Concession Actually Says
The Express Tribune, reporting on the draft approved on 20 October, says small EVs valued under $15,000 would get a 5 per cent tariff for the first two years of the policy.
Dawn's reporting the same day confirms the threshold, describing lower tariffs for smaller EVs priced below $15,000 — but does not state a rate. So the 5 per cent figure rests on a single outlet's reporting of a document that has not been published.
Two years is the other half of the design. This is written as a temporary opening rather than a permanent rate, which matters if you are planning a purchase around it.
The $15,000 Question Nobody Has Answered
Here is the gap at the centre of every article written about this so far. Valued how?
A customs threshold can be measured on the invoice price, on CIF — cost, insurance and freight, the landed value before duty — or on the valuation Pakistan Customs itself assesses, which can differ from both.
Those three bases admit three different sets of cars. A vehicle invoiced at $14,000 can land well above $15,000 once shipping and insurance are added, and customs valuation can diverge again.
The draft as reported does not specify which basis applies. Anyone telling you confidently that it is CIF is filling in a blank. Until the notification appears with its valuation rule, eligibility for electric cars under $15,000 in Pakistan cannot be worked out from the outside.
Could the BYD Seagull Get Cheaper in Pakistan?
The honest answer begins with a fact that gets skipped: the Seagull is not sold in Pakistan. No launch has been announced, and there is no local price for a duty cut to reduce.
What is confirmed is the car itself. The second-generation Seagull went on sale in China this month from 65,900 yuan, roughly $9,900, with Blade Battery 2.0 LFP packs of 30.1 kWh and 39.2 kWh giving 320 km and 420 km on the CLTC cycle. BYD claims 10 to 70 per cent charge in five minutes.
A Chinese showroom price around $9,900 sits comfortably below $15,000, which is why the Seagull keeps appearing in this conversation. But a domestic Chinese retail price is not a customs value for Pakistan, and the two should not be treated as the same number.
Worth knowing too: BYD exports this car as the Dolphin Surf and Dolphin Mini, not as the Seagull. Our BYD Seagull 2026 breakdown has the full specification.
Could the MG Binguo Get Cheaper?
First, the name. The car is developed by SAIC GM Wuling, so it is often called the Wuling Binguo — but in Pakistan it is sold with MG badges through MG dealerships as the MG Binguo.
It was introduced here by MG Pakistan with JW SEZ in December 2025 at an announced retail price of Rs 5,999,000, with a 31.9 kWh LFP battery and up to 333 km of CLTC range. Listings since have shown it lower, which is why this article does not quote a live price.
Now the part that decides the answer, and it is unresolved. An import duty concession only reaches a car that is imported. If the Binguo is assembled in Pakistan, a tariff cut on imported EVs does nothing for what you pay.
We could not establish which it is. MG Pakistan has an assembly plant in Lahore, and EV manufacturing has separately been approved in a special economic zone at Raiwind, but no published source states how the Binguo specifically reaches customers. Until that is clear, any claim that this concession will cut its price is guesswork.
Why a Showroom Price Cannot Be Compared With the Threshold
This trips up almost everyone, and it is the reason the two numbers look irreconcilable.
A Pakistani retail price already contains customs duty, additional and regulatory duty, sales tax, excise where it applies, freight, dealer margin and the exchange rate. The $15,000 threshold is measured before most of that is added.
So a car retailing around Rs 60 lakh here can still, in principle, have a customs value under $15,000. The retail figure tells you almost nothing about eligibility in either direction.
Which also means a tariff cut from a higher rate to 5 per cent does not translate into a proportional price cut. It reduces one layer in a stack, and whether the saving reaches the buyer depends on how much of the stack remains and on how full the order book is.
What Else Lands on an Imported EV
Customs duty is one line among several, and the draft changes some of the others too.
| Charge | Position |
|---|---|
| Customs duty, small EVs under $15,000 | 5% for two years — proposed |
| Sales tax, battery electric vehicles | 1% for 2026–31 — proposed |
| Federal excise duty, EVs above $75,000 | 10% — proposed |
| Additional customs duty, electric headings | Exempt — already in force by SRO |
| Registration, insurance, freight, margin | Unchanged by the draft |
Proposed figures come from reporting on an unapproved draft and are not being charged. Sales tax and import duty are separate taxes on separate bases and cannot be added together as a single rate.
The exemption from additional customs duty for electric vehicle tariff headings is genuinely in force, under S.R.O. 1063(I)/2026, effective 1 July 2026. The Ministry of Industries' New Energy Vehicles policy document sets the longer-term direction, including phasing out the sector's special duty regimes by 2030.
When Could It Take Effect, and What to Check
There is no date, because there is no law. The draft needs cabinet approval and then legislation, and the two-year clock would presumably start from whenever the policy commences rather than from the approval you read about this week.
If you are considering an import, the things to establish are the valuation basis the notification sets, whether your intended model is actually offered here, and whether it arrives built-up or assembled locally.
On affordability, the draft's financing changes may matter more than the tariff: see our note on the EV financing limit in Pakistan, and our guide to buying an EV in Pakistan for charging and running costs.
Final Thoughts
A 5 per cent tariff on small electric cars would be a real change to electric car import tax Pakistan has applied for years. But it is proposed, it is reported by one outlet, it would last two years, and the valuation rule that decides who qualifies has not been published.
The Seagull is not on sale here, and whether the Binguo is even affected depends on a question about local assembly that no source answers. Wait for the notification — the wider tariff picture is in our car parts duty cut coverage.
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