Shri Ashwin Chandran, Chairman, Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) “The Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) heartily welcomes the announcement of the trade deal between the US and India and the reduction in the US tariff on Indian goods to 18%. CITI would like to express its sincere gratitude to both the US President, Mr Donald Trump and the Indian Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, for this trade deal. This reduction in tariff will ensure our textile and apparel exporters are once again in a position to compete effectively in the US market, the single-largest market for India’s textile and apparel exports. This deal will also ensure that factories can run at full steam once more and job creation can get back to previous levels.”
Rajeev Gupta, Joint Managing Director, RSWM Limited “The India–US trade deal’s sharp tariff reduction from 50% to 18% provides India with a 2% cost advantage over competitors such as Bangladesh and Vietnam, significantly strengthening our global competitiveness. This long-pending agreement has already stirred revival among the stalled or delayed US orders. These orders make up nearly 28% of India’s textile exports. Combined with internal duty exemptions and a Budget that meaningfully strengthens textile competitiveness and domestic value chains, the timing is ideal to accelerate exports, support jobs across MSME clusters, and improve financial margins in the coming quarters.”.
Rahul Mehta, Chief Mentor, Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI) “The reduction of tariffs to 18% for exports to the US has the potential to be a massive game changer for our apparel industry. While in a sense it merely restores the status quo to what it was in January 2025, coming as it does on the back of the UK and EU FTAs, it will dramatically change the mood and psychology of the industry. From a “no future” industry classification, investors will now look at it as one with huge potential. Investments will flow in, capacities will be built, and confidence will grow. Buyers will view India far more optimistically than ever before. In terms of actual numbers, perhaps the EU agreement may bring about a bigger return, but, along with the US trade agreement though, the outlook for the industry will undergo a sea change.”
