CITI welcomes visibility on US tariff reduction, seeks clarity on cotton
The Confederation of Indian Textile Industries (CITI) heartily welcomes the reduction of US tariffs to 18% with effect from February 7, 2026. CITI expresses its heartfelt gratitude to US President Mr. Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi for successfully resolving the tariff issue.
"The biggest problem for the Indian textile and apparel sector was earlier the 50% tariff imposed by the US on Indian goods, as the US is India's largest foreign market. Now this tariff has been removed, allowing India's textile and apparel exports to compete effectively in the US again. With the 18% tariff, we will also get a slight tariff advantage compared to our nearest competitors, Vietnam and Bangladesh," said Mr. Ashwan Chandran, President, CITI.
“This extremely positive development is a major boost to India's target of $100 billion textile and apparel exports by 2030, the 'Make in India' initiative and employment generation in the textile and apparel industry driven by small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). CITI is extremely grateful to Honorable US President Mr. Donald Trump, Honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and all the Ministers and senior officials involved in the US and India for this achievement.”
China, Vietnam, India, and Bangladesh are the largest exporters of textiles and apparel goods to the US. The US tariff rate on both Vietnam and Bangladesh is set at 20%. An analysis by CITI of US Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) data showed that US imports of textiles and apparel from India declined by 31.4% in November 2025 compared to November 2024.
CITI president said the industry body was waiting for more clarity on cotton. There is extensive coordination between the United States and India on cotton. India's textile and apparel exports are mainly dependent on cotton.
The Joint Statement of the United States and India on the Framework for an Interim Agreement on Reciprocating and Mutually Beneficial Trade (Interim Agreement) states: "India will eliminate or reduce tariffs on all U.S. industrial goods and a wide range of U.S. food and agricultural products, including dried distillers grains (DDG), red sorghum for animal feed, nuts, fresh and processed fruits, soybean oil, wine and spirits, and other products."
CITI believes that removal of import duty on cotton of all varieties will reduce the gap between domestic and global prices and help restore the competitiveness of India's spinning and textile industries. This step will also ensure that the minimum support price (MSP) and other farmer-support mechanisms can function as intended without any significant price distortion. In the current cotton season, the MSP of the cotton variety has increased by about 8%.
read more :- Cotton import increased due to trade deal, farmers in trouble, slight relief in textile sector
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