"US retailers cut India apparel orders by 5–10% amid caution: Pearl Global MD", 20 November 2025

Driven by the uncertainty created by US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs on India and a delayed trade deal, US retailers have become conservative in placing apparel orders, trying to avoid a repeat of the 2022 inventory pile-up, Pearl Global Managing Director Pallab Banerjee told Moneycontrol on November 19.

Pearl Global...is seeing order volumes from US retailers fall by 5–10 percent, with buyers also holding back working capital...

At some point in time, they are pressurising the vendor to absorb. Whatever the vendor is not absorbing, they are absorbing. So naturally, they are not passing on this tariff impact to the consumer, as of now. But as they do, they fear that the consumer sentiment will go down. The demand might go down, so, that's why they are very careful and not buying anything extra because in 2022 they had a huge inventory problem," Banerjee told Moneycontrol...

[Banerjee] booked an impact of roughly Rs 21 crore in the second quarter as it offered discounts to its customers to offset the 25 percent penalty tariffs imposed by the Trump administration...

Exports account for 99 percent of Pearl Global's revenue, and about 50 percent of all shipments are to the US. The company manufactures...for US brands such as Gap, Kohl’s, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Polo, Ralph Lauren, Macy’s, Walmart, etc., according to its annual report.

However, growing uncertainty has led these brands to consider shift sourcing from India to low-tariff countries like Vietnam and Bangladesh, where the tariffs are currently pegged at 20 percent...