New Delhi, July 30: Indian industry on Wednesday expressed disappointment over US President Donald Trump’s announcement to impose 25 per cent tariff along with penalty on Indian goods.
Industry body Ficci hoped it is a “temporary phenomenon” and the two nations will secure a permanent trade deal soon.
Trump has announced a 25 per cent tariff on India plus a “penalty” amount which has not been specified, effective August 1.
“While this move is unfortunate and will have a clear bearing on our exports, we hope that this imposition of higher tariffs will be a short-term phenomenon and that a permanent trade deal between the two sides will be finalised soon,” FICCI President Harsha Vardhan Agarwal said.
“There is a lot our two countries can achieve together, and FICCI is confident that following the detailed deliberations that are currently underway, we will see beneficial outcomes for both countries when the contours of the final trade agreement will emerge,” he added.
“India has been actively negotiating a BTA with the US since the start of the year, and we understand that there had been some specific demands from the US side which are not in our national interest and therefore Indian government has not given in to those demands from the US,” the FICCI President said.
The Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) said that the new US tariff rate for India presents a stiff challenge for the textile sector.
“However, CITI remains hopeful that the tariff issue will get resolved once the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) between India and the United States is in place,” it added.
Notably, the US is India’s largest market for textile and apparel exports.
During January-May 2025, US imports of textiles and apparel from India were valued at USD 4.59 billion, a rise of more than 13% compared to the same period last year when the figure stood at USD 4.05 billion.
Hemant Jain, President, PHDCCI, however, said while Indian MSMEs are momentarily impacted, this is also an opportunity.
“With global buyers looking to de-risk from overdependence on select geographies, India is emerging as the most credible, democratic, and scalable alternative,” he said, adding that now is the time for Indian industry to step up with quality, compliance, and competitiveness.
Rahul Mehta – Chief Mentor of Clothing Manufacturers Association of India, said if the proposed terms do come into effect, “it will make our products 7 per cent to 10 per cent more expensive than some of our competitors, and it will certainly hurt our Apparel exports to the US”. “Fortunately, this setback has come at the time when we have just signed an FTA with the UK, and are proceeding rapidly with an FTA with the EU. So yes, it is tough times, but not beyond our ability to face.” (PTI)
