New US law threatens India's textiles

The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 could trigger additional US tariffs that severely harm India's textile and apparel exports, warns industry body CITI.

US is India's biggest textile market

The United States is the single-largest market for India's textile and apparel exports, making the sector extremely vulnerable to any tariff increases.

MSMEs can't absorb tariff costs

India's textile sector is dominated by small and medium enterprises already stressed by West Asia turmoil. Additional tariffs would be impossible to absorb and severely impact competitiveness.

“Any additional tariffs under this Act will be very difficult to absorb for the MSME-dominated Indian textile and apparel sector already under stress”

CITI urges urgent trade negotiations

CITI Chairman Ashwin Chandran is calling on the Indian government to engage immediately with Washington to protect exporters and negotiate a fair, balanced bilateral trade agreement.

Free trade deals won't replace US market

While new free trade agreements offer potential, CITI warns they cannot substitute for the critical importance of the US market and gains will take time to materialize.

“The FTAs offer a lot of potential, but the gains from those are not automatic for exporters and will take time to materialise”

Mixed export growth signals trouble

In August 2026, textile exports grew 13 percent but apparel exports fell 2.74 percent. Year-to-date apparel exports are down 9.1 percent, showing the sector is already struggling.