Tirupur exporters seek CM’s intervention over US tariff hike

COIMBATORE: Raising alarm over the survival of garment exporters, Tirupur Exporters and Manufacturers Association (TEAMA) president MP Muthurathinam has urged chief minister M K Stalin to take up with the Centre the issue of the US imposing a 50% import duty on Indian goods, which he said severely impacted Tirupur’s textile industry.In a letter to the chief minister on Friday, Muthurathinam said the US accounted for 40% of Tirupur’s annual knitwear exports, with shipments worth nearly Rs 15,000 crore going to that market. With lower tariffs benefiting competing nations, he cautioned that export orders could shift away from India, jeopardising the jobs of lakhs of workers.Muthurathinam said, “American traders are already holding back shipments until an agreement is reached between New Delhi and Washington.

If no resolution emerges, exporters stand to suffer huge losses.”He urged the Centre to push for duty-free trade agreements with new countries, enhance the export incentive from 2.5% to 5%, and extend loan repayment periods without categorising accounts as NPAs. Interest rates should be reduced, and special financial packages rolled out for the textile sector, he said.