Category: General
Country: India
Region: South Asia
By The New Indian Express
11th November 2025
Reading time: 2 minutes
The diversification efforts by the government have helped mitigate the fall in textile exports due to US tariffs. Government sources have told TNIE that textiles sector exports during April-September 2025 grew in 111 countries, off-setting losses in the US market. These 111 countries contributed $8.5 billion during April-September 2025 compared to $7.7 billion, exhibiting a growth of 10% and $ 770.3 million in absolute growth, sources added. While total global textile exports rose 0.1%, textile exports to the US during the same period fell by 2.6% to $5.2 billion.
The textile sector is the worst hit by the 50% US tariffs, which came into force on 27 August 2025. Apparel exports now face a 63.9% duty in the US, which is India’s largest textile exports market, accounting for $10.8 billion or 35% of shipments last year.
However, the government identified 40 markets where textile exports could be pushed aggressively. These markets are spread across North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Oceania. As per the sources, the efforts have paid dividends. Data from the government shows textile exports to 38 countries rose 50% year-on-year during the April-September 2025 period. It rose by 25-50% in 16 countries and by less than 25% in 57 countries.
In order to ensure the US tariffs do not hit the Indian textile industry, the government designed dedicated outreach programmes to expand India’s modest 5–6% market share in these economies, with particular emphasis on apparel, home textiles, technical textiles, and handicrafts.
Special focus was placed on Free Trade Agreement (FTA) partner nations, including the recently signed India–UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). Export Promotion Councils, in coordination with Indian missions abroad, spearheaded targeted promotion drives to position India as a reliable source of quality, sustainable, and innovative textiles while reducing overdependence on a handful of traditional markets,
With apparel exports now facing a 63.9% duty, Indian exporters are at a 30–35% price disadvantage compared to competitors such as Bangladesh, Vietnam, Mexico, and Central American nations. Industry insiders had warned that if the tariffs persisted for long, the apparel sector alone could suffer severe losses, potentially leading to 15–20 lakh job cuts.
India has set an ambitious target of boosting textile exports to $100 billion by 2030, from the current $37.7 billion, by tapping into high-potential destinations.
Courtesy: msn.com
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