Gokaldas Exports, Pearl Global, Avanti Feeds: Textile, shrimp stocks drop amid US' 500% tariff threat

Shares of companies that earn a sizeable chunk of revenue by exporting products to the United States (US) were trading sharply lower on Thursday, January 8, after US President Donald Trump backed a sanctions bill that could impose 500% tariffs on countries buying Russian oil.

US Senator Lindsey Graham on Wednesday said that the legislation would give the White House “tremendous leverage” against countries like China, India and Brazil to incentivise them to stop buying cheap oil from Russia.

“After a very productive meeting today with President Trump on a variety of issues, he greenlit the bipartisan Russia sanctions bill that I have been working on for months with Senator Blumenthal and many others,” Graham said in a post on X Wednesday.

“This will be well-timed, as Ukraine is making concessions for peace, and Putin is all talk, continuing to kill the innocent. This bill will allow President Trump to punish those countries who buy cheap Russian oil, fuelling Putin’s war machine,” he said.

“This bill would give President Trump tremendous leverage against countries like China, India and Brazil to incentivise them to stop buying the cheap Russian oil that provides the financing for Putin’s bloodbath against Ukraine,” Graham added.

Graham said he looks forward to a “strong” bipartisan vote on the bill, “hopefully as early as next week.”

Trump has imposed 50% tariffs on India, among the highest in the world, including 25% levies for its purchases of Russian energy.

Following this, shares of textile firms and shrimp exporters were trading lower on Thursday.

Shares of textile companies with exposure to the US declined across the board, with Gokaldas Exports tumbling 13%, Pearl Global Industries falling 7.3%, KPR Mills slipping nearly 4%, Vardhman Textiles down 3.4%, Welspun Living easing 2.3%, and Arvind sliding 2%.

Further, shares of Avanti Feeds and Apex Frozen Foods, which derive over 50% of their revenue from North America, were also under selling pressure, with Avanti Feeds down 8.41% and Apex Frozen Foods falling 7.68%.