50% Tariff impact: Textile stocks under pressure; Vardhman Textile and KPR Mills fall over 3%

The additional 25% tariff on Indian exports to the US, on top of the earlier announced 25% by US President Donald Trump (totalling 50%), is expected to impact key Indian export sectors, including textiles.

Shares of Indian textile and garment firms fell sharply on Thursday, August 7, after the higher tariffs. Several Indian textile stocks, such as Welspun Living (-1.43%), KPR Mills (3.23%), Indo Count Industries (-2.93%), Pearl Global (-3.59%), Alok Industries (-3.09%), Kitex Garments (-5%) and Vardhman Textiles (-3.85%), were under pressure.

The US is a key market for Indian ready-made garment exports. America accounts for 33% of India's total garment exports in 2024.

In 2024-25, India's exports to the US from this sector include apparel-knitted ($2.7 billion), apparel-woven ($2.7 billion), and textiles and made-ups ($3 billion).

The Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) expressed deep concern, calling the tariff a “huge setback” for India’s textile and apparel exporters, who rely on the US as their largest market.

"It has further complicated the challenging situation we were already grappling with and will significantly weaken our ability to compete effectively vis-à-vis many other countries for a larger share of the US market," it said.

Seeking immediate fiscal support from the government, the apparel exporters body AEPC on Thursday said the doubling of tariffs to 50% by the Trump administration on Indian goods will sound the death knell for micro and medium enterprises, particularly those heavily dependent on the American market.

Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) Chairman Sudhir Sekhri said the announcement is a huge setback to the labour-intensive export industry.

Meanwhile, people with knowledge on the matter told news agency PTI that the Union Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh will meet industry stakeholders next week to deliberate upon the potential impact of Trump's announcement.

The US is India's largest market for textile and apparel exports, accounting for about 25% of the country's total outbound shipment from the sector.

Following this, textile stocks took a hit on Thursday.