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Hindustan Times
25 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Coming up Trumps against tariff threat
India's garments exports — that have stagnated in the $16-18 billion range over the last 10 years — now face an additional threat. Effective August 1, the Trump administration has more than doubled the tariff on Indian exports to 25%, with a threat of an additional penalty. Major apparel supplier Vietnam, on the other hand, recently secured a last-minute deal to cap US tariffs at 20% on many of its exports — giving it further advantage against India — while Bangladesh, another major competitor, is looking to secure a similar deal as Vietnam in the next few days. The apparel sector can lift millions out of poverty, as seen in Bangladesh, where garment work has empowered women at scale. (REUTERS) The US imported almost $85 billion worth of garments in 2024, of which India accounted for about $10.5 billion. While the latest tariff announcement can be seen as a setback, India still has three aces up its sleeve to neutralise its impact and push firmly towards its $100 billion textile exports target. These aces are concluding the free trade agreement (FTA) with the EU, ensuring the supply of raw material at competitive prices, and an incentive and reforms package tailored for employment generation through apparel exports. The first ace India must play is to expedite the FTA with the EU. Currently, the EU is the largest garments importer with an import value close to $200 billion. India only captures $5 billion of this against Bangladesh's $25 billion. The primary reason is the 10% duty advantage enjoyed by Bangladesh due to its LDC status, which allows it to export to the EU duty-free. If India were to sign an FTA with the EU on the lines of the recently concluded UK FTA, this disparity will vanish — making Indian exporters highly competitive in the largest market in the world. The second ace India needs to deal is addressing the high cost of raw material for its textile and apparel industry. Cotton, the lifeblood of our textile industry, carries an import duty of around 10% imposed in 2021. Duties are even higher when it comes to synthetic-fibre-based products. For example, the basic customs duty on polyester fabric is 20%, which raises the cost of synthetic fabric in the market. While garment exporters are allowed to import fabrics duty-free under the advance authorisation scheme, it is currently extremely restrictive and rigid. A few simple but far-reaching reforms can enable Indian exporters to access fabric at globally competitive prices, on a par with their Bangladeshi counterparts. First, simplify the input-output norms and allow exporters to import fabrics on self-certification basis with post-export audit, on the lines of the EU. Second, allow exporters to import inputs against export orders or contracts without prior licence. Finally, allow exporters or third parties to pool inputs or maintain bonded warehouses for multi-party use and treat sales of fabric to exporters as deemed exports. In addition to these, rationalisation of import duties on both cotton and synthetic fibres, yarn, and fabrics would eliminate the substantial disability Indian garment exporters face on account of raw material. The third ace that India must play is a package of carefully crafted policy measures and reforms for the garment sector to enhance competitiveness to world-beating levels. Such measures would include a suitable incentive scheme for the garment sector — one that is easy to avail and is export- and job-centric. The scheme would essentially function as an employment-linked incentive (ELI) — rewarding companies not just for production volumes, but for the number of new jobs they create and sustain in the sector. For it to be truly effective, such a scheme should be skewed towards large manufacturing units that employ, say, 1,000+ workers, to drive economies of scale and higher productivity. The government must also extend the Rebate of State & Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) — which refunds embedded taxes to exporters — beyond 2026 to keep Indian apparel prices competitive globally. In addition to incentives, the government must fast-track the completion and operationalisation of the new PM MITRA textile parks. These parks should become magnets for textile and garment manufacturers through world-class infrastructure, responsive governance, and easier regulation around land, labour, and environment. The goal must be to make India the supplier of choice in terms of cost and reliability. The apparel sector can lift millions out of poverty, as seen in Bangladesh, where garment work has empowered women at scale. India can replicate and surpass that model by consciously steering policy to favour labour-intensive growth. The encouraging news is that global brands are already showing interest. From Japan to West Asia, buyers are in talks to tap into India's expanding production capacity and favourable incentive structure. This confidence, combined with the right policy push, could help India achieve the government's ambitious target of $100 billion in textile and apparel exports by 2030, up from roughly $30-40 billion (including yarn and fabric) today. Achieving this would vault India into the upper ranks of global apparel exporters, close in on rivals and create an estimated 2.5 crore new jobs by 2030 — a transformation with profound social and economic benefits. Ashish Dhawan is founder-CEO and Piyush Doshi is operating partner, The Convergence Foundation. The views expressed are personal.
NDTV
30 minutes ago
- NDTV
Trump's Envoy Heads To Israel For Gaza Aid, Ceasefire Push
Jerusalem: US special envoy Steve Witkoff was expected to arrive in Israel on Thursday in a bid to salvage Gaza ceasefire talks and tackle a humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave, where a global hunger monitor has warned that famine was unfolding. Indirect ceasefire talks between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas in Doha ended in deadlock last week, with the sides blaming trade for the impasse and gaps remaining over issues including the extent of Israeli forces' withdrawal. Witkoff, who will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, arrives as Israel faces mounting international pressure over Gaza, with Canada the latest Western power to say it will recognise a Palestinian state. Israel on Wednesday sent a response to Hamas' latest amendments to a US proposal that would see a 60-day truce and the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a source familiar with the details said. There was no immediate comment from Hamas. Gaza medical officials said at least 23 people were reported killed by Israeli fire across the enclave, including 12 people among crowds who had gathered to receive aid around the Netzarim corridor, an area held by Israeli troops in central Gaza. The Israeli military said it was looking into the report. Since the war began, the Gaza health ministry has recorded 154 deaths from starvation and malnutrition, most of them in recent weeks, including at least 89 children. Facing mounting international outrage over images of starving children, Israel said on Sunday it would halt military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of Gaza and designate secure routes for convoys delivering food and medicine. Calls On Hamas To Disarm The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Wednesday that the United Nations and its partners had been able to bring more food into Gaza in the first two days of pauses, but the volume was "still far from enough." Even with more aid running through Gaza, residents face peril from Israeli forces and Palestinian looters when trying to reach the supplies. "I have tried several times to grab a sack of flour. The only time I managed to do so, someone with a knife froze me in the street and took it away, threatening to stab me," one man from Deir Al-Balah told Reuters, asking not to be identified. With the number of Palestinians killed in almost two years of war passing 60,000 this week, pressure has been mounting in Gaza on Hamas to reach a ceasefire deal with Israel. "We can save thousands of lives and maybe the war wouldn't resume," Rami from Gaza City told Reuters via a chat app. In Israel, protests were expected in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, calling on the government to end the war. Netanyahu, whose ruling coalition includes two parties that want to conquer Gaza and reestablish Jewish settlements there, has said he will not end the war until Hamas no longer rules the enclave and lays down its arms. Hamas has rejected calls to disarm. Qatar and Egypt, who are mediating the ceasefire efforts, backed a declaration on Tuesday by France and Saudi Arabia, which outlined steps for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The declaration says Hamas "must end its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority", which is led by its rivals and based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israel has rejected the Palestinian Authority gaining control of Gaza. Israel has denounced declarations by France, Britain and Canada since last week that they may recognise a Palestinian state, which Israel says amounts to rewarding Hamas for its October 7, 2023, attack on Israeli territory. That attack, when fighters killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages back to Gaza, precipitated the war.
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
From calm to chaos: Russian offensive empties sleepy Ukrainian mining town
A forlorn group of evacuees filed into a bus, bags bulging with whatever remnants of their lives they could take with them as they left Dobropillia, a Ukrainian town which has seen the frontline of Russia's invasion creep ever closer. Residents of once quiet Ukrainian mining town of Dobropillia were forced to flee due to advancing Russian troupes. (Aloke Tikku) "It's hard, to live in one place and then to tear yourself away. But what can I do? Nothing," said Liubov, who declined to give her surname, as she sat on the bus which would take her away from her hometown. The frontline has been moving towards Dobropillia - once a sleepy Soviet coal mining town of 30,000 people - for 18 months. Russian soldiers, who were more than 50 km (30 miles) away at the beginning of last year, are now about 15 km from the edge of the town - close enough for it to come under fire from kamikaze drones carrying explosives. A half-tonne Russian glide bomb hit the main shopping centre on July 16, killing two people and wounding more than 20. Denys Naumov, a volunteer aid worker from local aid group Proliska which is helping manage the evacuation, said the situation there had deteriorated over the past two weeks. Around 1,250 people had been evacuated over that time. "Just now, when we conducted an evacuation, we heard explosions," Naumov told Reuters. Liubov said she did not see any prospect of a ceasefire, even after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Moscow with tariffs and other measures if it did not make progress on ending the war by end of next week. "I don't believe it, I don't listen to anyone," she said, shaking her head sadly.
