New Delhi, Feb 7 (UNI) The Textiles Ministry on Saturday described the landmark trade agreement between India and the United States as a major catalyst enhancing textile trade relations between the two countries and hoped that it could be a major economic game changer for the sector.
For textiles exports, it opens up a 118 billion USD US global market of imports of textiles, apparels and made-ups. With the US being India’s largest export destination of around 10.5 billion USD exports, comprising around 70 per cent apparel and 15 per cent made-ups, this is a major opportunity.
It is expected to play a pivotal role in India achieving its intended target of 100 billion USD exports in 2030. The deal is expected to provide the requisite momentum, with the US to contribute to more than 1/5th of this target.
The 18 per cent reciprocal tariffs on all the textile products, including apparel and made-ups, will not only remove the disadvantage that Indian exporters had, but would place them in a better position than most competitors like Bangladesh (20 per cent), China (30 per cent), Pakistan (19 per cent) and Vietnam (20 per cent) who have higher reciprocal tariffs.
This would alter the market dynamics as large buyers would surely re-examine their sourcing in the light of this agreement.
The agreement would also enable the industry to be cost-competitive and diversify its risks by sourcing intermediates for the textiles sector from the US. This would facilitate the manufacturing of value-added textiles in the country and diversify our production and exports.
The deal would generate additional employment and encourage investments by US entities, the Ministry said.
