Overview
- Tamil Nadu’s chief minister wrote to the prime minister on December 18 seeking a bilateral agreement to resolve 50% U.S. duties on Indian exports.
- The letter reports nearly ₹15,000 crore in confirmed orders lost in Tiruppur, production cuts of up to 30%, and about ₹60 crore in daily revenue losses across Tiruppur, Coimbatore, Erode and Karur.
- Footwear hubs in Vellore, Ranipet and Tirupattur are under similar strain as SMEs offer deep discounts to keep clients, further squeezing margins.
- Stalin warns layoffs and wage deferrals have begun, with tens of lakhs of jobs at risk in sectors that make up 28% of India’s textile exports and roughly 40% of leather and footwear exports.
- Buyers are shifting to Vietnam, Bangladesh and Cambodia, and despite months of India–U.S. talks no rollback has been announced, with mobile phone exports noted as exempt.