New Delhi: India’s labour-intensive textile industry has called for urgent government intervention as rising U.S. tariffs put severe pressure on cash flows and threaten export competitiveness.

In a meeting at the Ministry of Textiles on Tuesday (August 12, 2025), exporters urged for short-term financial relief and a moratorium on loan repayments to cushion the impact of soaring duties, reported Indian Express.

Industry representatives have requested relief measures to absorb around 20–25% of the tariff burden. They highlighted that many U.S. buyers are delaying or cutting orders, or demanding Indian exporters absorb the increased tariffs themselves.

To address this, exporters proposed reviving support schemes such as soft loans, interest subvention, and a focused textile market initiative, along with reinstating the Interest Equalisation Scheme to make exports more competitive.

Union Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh responded by announcing the formation of four expert committees.

These will provide time-bound recommendations on fiscal policy support, ease of doing business, structural reforms in the textile value chain, and innovation strategies. The aim is to help India reach its ambitious target of $100 billion in textile exports by 2030.

The urgency stems from the U.S. tariff hike that rose to 25% on August 7 and is set to double to 50% by August 27 under the “secondary tariffs” regime.

Exporters warn this could cause severe disruptions, job losses, and reduced production capacity in one of India’s largest employment-generating sectors.