US tariff relief sparks recovery hopes for textile sector in TN

COIMBATORE: A rollback of the US tariff on textile imports to 18 per cent is expected to revive the textile and apparel sector, which has suffered significant production loss following the steep duty hike.

Durai Palanisamy, chairman of The Southern India Mills Association (SIMA), said production levels across several textile units declined by 30 to 70 per cent after the tariff was raised.

“Exporters heavily dependent on the US market, particularly those from Tamil Nadu, faced a severe crisis following the tariff hike. Over time, US buyers began shifting their sourcing to competing countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Vietnam, posing a serious threat to India’s export competitiveness and market share in the US textile and apparel segment,” he said.

However, Durai noted that reducing the tariff from 50 per cent to 18 per cent would significantly enhance the global competitiveness of Indian textile exports and help restore the industry’s confidence. “With strong policy support, improved market access and sustained investments, the textile and clothing sector aims to expand to a domestic market size of US$ 1.8 trillion and achieve export earnings of US$600 billion, positioning India as a global leader across the textile value chain,” he added.

Echoing similar views, A Sakthivel, chairman of the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), said the tariff rollback is expected to provide a strong impetus to apparel exports and attract fresh investments across the value chain.

“Most importantly, the apparel sector, being one of the largest employment generators in the country, will benefit immensely. The trade deal will help safeguard existing jobs and create new employment opportunities, particularly for women and workers in the labour-intensive segments,” he said.

Sakthivel further emphasised that exporters should proactively prepare to scale up production capacity, improve operational efficiency and modernise their enterprises to effectively leverage the upcoming India–EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the proposed India–US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA).

Prabhu Dhamodharan, convenor of the Indian Texpreneurs Federation (ITF), Coimbatore, said the sector could witness month-on-month double-digit growth from the 2026–27 financial year in apparel and home textile exports.