LOSING THE THREAD

As US tariffs make their goods costlier, apparel exporters fear losing the US market to Vietnam and Bangladesh

- By SONAL KHETARPAL

The Fallout: A labour-intensive sector, India's garment industry is among the hardest hit by Trump's tariffs. The United States, the largest market, accounts for nearly 30 per cent of the country's total textile and apparel exports, valued at $10.8 billion (Rs 95,040 crore). Readymade garments and home textiles dominate the export basket, with a 45.7 per cent and 36 per cent share, respectively. But with tariff uncertainties clouding the future, new orders have all but dried up since April. "Our major exports to the US are value-added products like apparel, bedsheets and terry towels," says Chandrima Chatterjee, secretary general of the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI). "The tremors will be felt not just by manufacturers, but across the entire upstream value chain." The ripple effects could travel in both directions. India imports 64 per cent of its cotton from the US, a reflection of what Chatterjee calls a "complementary trade relationship". For American cotton exporters, India remains a critical market. Yet even as stakeholders scramble to assess the fallout, one thing is clear: the fabric of this partnership is under strain, and no one is quite sure how muc