New Delhi, July 8 — India’s apparel and footwear export sectors are expected to benefit significantly from new tariff hikes imposed by the United States on several competing nations. Starting August 1, the US will implement new tariffs ranging from 25 to 40 percent on imports from countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, Thailand, and Myanmar.
Among these, Bangladesh—currently the third-largest exporter of non-knitted apparel to the US with a 13.15 percent market share—is likely to be the most affected. India, by comparison, exported $2.5 billion in non-knitted apparel to the US in 2024, although it did not rank among the top three exporters. Analysts believe that Indian products, particularly in the natural garment segment, may gain a stronger foothold in the US market due to these changes.
However, India continues to face challenges in the synthetic garment category, where it lags behind countries like Vietnam. Mithileshwar Thakur, Secretary General of the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), pointed out that India’s cost disadvantage in synthetics limits competitiveness. He emphasized that if the proposed reciprocal tariff under a potential India–US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) is reduced to 15 percent from the current 26 percent, Indian products could become more attractive across both natural and synthetic garment segments.