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All orders going to America were halted after tariff hike, traders appealed to central government to intervene
Leather item exporter and former chairman of FIEO Rafiq Ahmed says that exporters will be ruined by September-October. American buyers have refused to take our old orders for now. They are also asking us to stop production. The government needs to talk to America in this matter and clarify the situation.
Whatever the long-term effect of the Trump administration's reciprocal tariff announcement, American employment-based sector orders in items such as garments and leathers are on hold indefinitely. American buyers are also seeking to suspend shipment of pending orders temporarily, say exporters.
Both importers and exporters are eager to know what will happen.Indian exporters would like the government to engage in talks with the US government over the 26 percent retaliatory tariff levied on India and to seek postponement until a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) is signed between India and the US.
On the other hand, Vietnam has declared to fully scrap the duty on American products after the announcement of the reciprocal duty. Reciprocal duty of 46 percent was levied on Vietnam. Now Vietnam is likely to get a considerable relief in duty from America. The Apparel Export Promotion Council has submitted a letter to the government asking it to negotiate with America to defer the reciprocal duty.
Amidst all this, American buyers are demanding a discount of 10-26 percent in the delivery price from Indian exporters. However, Indian exporters of the garment and leather sector say that due to heavy competition from many countries in the US market, we already work on low margins, so there is no scope to give discounts to American buyers.
