TIRUPPUR - Indian textile businessman R.K. Siva Subramaniam is used to what he calls cycles of tension. But he is at a loss about how to emerge from the crisis triggered by US President Donald Trump’s 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods.
The US is the largest export market for India’s US$179 billion (S$234 billion) textile and apparel industry, whose export earnings in 2024 totalled US$37 billion. But that market is shrinking fast.
“Our Indian government asks us to find new markets to export to instead of the US. Textiles are not vegetables – it’s not easy to just go here, go there. It will take six months to a few years to find importers in other markets, and even then, purchase orders are unlikely to be in American quantities,” said Mr Siva, 50.
Since Aug 27, when Mr Trump imposed a 50 per cent tariff on goods imported from India – including a 25 per cent penalty for buying Russian oil – apparel exports have dropped, by 10.34 per cent in September and a further 12.91 per cent in October.
Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu contributes 68 per cent of India’s knitwear exports, and 35 per cent of Tiruppur’s output goes to the US, with shipments totalling 15 billion rupees (S$221 million) a month.
The Tiruppur textile hub has 2,500 companies and around 20,000 small and medium-sized ancillary units like carton box makers, polybag manufacturers and transporters. About 800,000 people work in the textile trade in Tiruppur – this is about 2 per cent of India’s 45 million-strong textile workforce.
The Tiruppur Exporters’ Association (TEA) estimated the hub has been hit by a loss of 12 billion rupees since the US tariff hike was announced. Tiruppur’s jolt reflects the struggles faced by Indian apparel exporters nationwide.
Original source: https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-asia/hanging-by-a-thread-50-us-tariffs-put-indian-textile-exporters-in-survival-mode
