New Delhi: The India–US trade agreement is poised to be a game changer for the domestic textile sector, with the Ministry of Textiles and industry bodies flagging a sharp improvement in India’s competitiveness in the world’s largest apparel market.
For Indian exporters, the pact effectively opens the door wider to the $118-billion US global imports market for textiles, apparel and made-ups. The US is already India’s biggest export destination in this segment, accounting for roughly $10.5 billion in shipments, dominated by apparel (around 70%) and made-ups (about 15%).
A key shift comes from the 18% reciprocal tariffs across textile products, including apparel and made-ups, which the ministry says will remove the earlier disadvantage faced by Indian suppliers. More importantly, it puts India in a better position versus rivals such as Bangladesh, China, Pakistan and Vietnam, which face higher reciprocal tariffs, potentially nudging large global buyers to reconsider sourcing strategies in India’s favour.
Officials expect the agreement to provide fresh momentum toward India’s $100-billion textile exports target by 2030, with the US projected to contribute more than one-fifth of that ambition. Beyond market access, the deal is also seen enabling cost-competitive sourcing of intermediates from the US, helping Indian firms move up the value chain into higher-value textiles and diversify production and export baskets.
The ministry added that the agreement could spur investments by US entities and generate additional employment across the textile value chain, as capacity expansion and value-added manufacturing gather pace.
For an industry navigating global demand volatility and intense price competition, the tariff reset and deeper supply-chain linkages with the US could mark the most meaningful structural tailwind in years. If buyer re-routing materialises as expected, exporters say the coming quarters could see a tangible pickup in orders—and a clearer runway toward India’s 2030 export goals