Waive off Cotton import duty to arrest the loss of market share in the US readymade garment exports market - ITF

The Indian Textile Entrepreneurs has urged the government to completely remove the 11 per cent import duty on cotton to boost India's exports in the US apparel market.


Coimbatore: The new business of the US readymade garment market is set to begin in January. The Confederation of Indian Textile Entrepreneurs (ITF) has said that the government should waive off the import duty on cotton so that India can get more orders.



Prabhu Damodaran, the coordinator of the organisation, said in a press release, “The U.S. trading market is considered to be the largest trading market in the world. The country imports readymade garments worth Rs 8.5 lakh crore annually.

The country's companies are trying to completely reduce imports by up to three months this year due to the high stock of ready-made garments.

U.S. readymade garment imports rose steadily from Rs 65,000 crore in April 2022 to Rs 83,000 crore in August. In October, it again fell to Rs 65,000 crore. It is expected to decrease further in November and December.

It is believed that US export orders will start arriving from January 2023 as business in the US will be better ahead of the Christmas season.

In October, China's share of US readymade garment imports was recorded at 19.5 per cent, followed by Vietnam (17.5 per cent), Indonesia (6.1 per cent) and India's share of 4.5 per cent".

India's share has come down from 7.4 per cent in April to 4.5 per cent now. This is very worrying.

Countries including Vietnam, Bangladesh and Cambodia have begun to take advantage of china's losing business in the US market for various reasons.

The increase in cotton prices, the lack of manufacturing centers large enough to handle U.S. work orders are some of the major reasons why India lags behind. We also do not produce much of synthetic fibre (polyester) based garments.

However, Indian textile companies will have to take steps to benefit from the US work orders that are due from January 2023.

To help in this, the central government should completely remove the 11 per cent import duty levied on cotton. Efforts should be made to implement the Mitra Park project at the earliest, which will help in setting up a larger textile manufacturing infrastructure”

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