Tariff headwind persists for textile units

Firms struggle to arrest fall in exports with overseas units

- KRISHNA BAROT

WITH AN INDIA-US trade deal still up in the air, textile units continue to face headwinds.

Even larger players are struggling to arrest the decline in overseas shipments even as a fairamount of market diversification has been achieved by most of them to offset the fall in exports to the US — pegged at as high as 50% in some cases.

Although the US is India’s largest market for textile exports, US President Donald Trump’s 50% tariff on the country has hurt exports. In October, India’s textile exports to the US declined by 12.91%.

Amid this, major textile companies are using their foreign manufacturing units to keep the tempo of exports, and closely observing the US market to gauge future demand.