"Knitwear to apparel, Tamil Nadu’s textile belt starts feeling US’s 50% tariff heat", 11 August 2025

India’s knitwear capital, exporters are already feeling the heat of the 50 per cent tariff US President Donald Trump announced.. They say orders are being paused, redirected, or lost entirely to competitors like Bangladesh, Pakistan, Vietnam, and Cambodia, all of whom have lower US tariffs ranging between 19% and 36%. ..regular US shipment had already been diverted to Pakistan. ..American buyer asked .. to “hold on” before confirming their summer order. .. buyers were previously demanding that exporters absorb the 25% tariff hike — a burden that has now doubled overnight.

.. The revised duties, including baseline and remedy-linked tariffs, now push effective rates for some knitted garments to as high as 64%, rendering products up to 35% more expensive than those from regional competitors. What was initially seen as a major setback is now viewed by exporters as “a de facto trade embargo”. The blow comes at a particularly cruel time when Tamil Nadu’s textile belt was preparing for a rebound in US orders. Tiruppur, Coimbatore, and Karur collectively employ over 1.25 million workers and export Rs 45,000 crore worth of garments annually.

..Textiles is a labour-intensive sector, and there are worries of job losses if the market shrinks. If exports contract 10-20% due to loss of orders, it can threaten 100,000–200,000 textile and garment jobs collectively in the three hubs — Tiruppur, Karur and Coimbatore — over the next few months.

..Tiruppur alone contributes Rs 40,000 crore to knitwear exports, supplying global giants like Walmart, GAP, and Costco, and accounting for 55% of the country’s knitwear exports. ..Now, the outlook is grim, with analysts forecasting a 40–50% fall in US-bound orders, especially in cotton and knitted apparel segments. .. The fallout is not confined to garments alone. ..buyers have started deferring or holding off on their summer bookings for bed linens and towels – key products traditionally finalised by October.