look news india
Trump Tariff: The fear of tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump on imports from various countries is also clearly visible among the exporters of Uttar Pradesh. Although the implementation of the tariff, which was to be implemented in the first fortnight of April, has been postponed for 90 days, the exporters are still concerned about the future. If the trump tariffs are implemented, the exporters of the Uttar Pradesh region will face the biggest challenge to remain competitive in the US market.
Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) of Uttar Pradesh export many items like leather, silk, textiles, carpets, glass, brass etc. to the American market. The increase in fees on Indian products, ‘Trump Tariff’, will make it very difficult for them to compete with countries like Turkey, Philippines, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Australia, Chile, Israel and Singapore.
Trump has imposed a tax of about 10 percent on the products of these countries. This is the reason why exporters are preparing to find new markets and are talking about inclusion of MSME sector of Uttar Pradesh in talks with the US.
Even before the US announced the postponement of tariffs for three months, buyers began pressing state exporters to reduce prices. Silk, carpet and leather exporters started receiving such orders from the last week of March. Exporters say that they had fixed the cost of raw materials, the price of products in other countries in the international market and prices based on their own prices. Now reducing price will mean losses.
Big shock to carpet industry
Trump’s tariff has created a major crisis for the carpet industry, which has been facing strict competition in the international market for the last few years. Bhadohi and Mirzapur of Uttar Pradesh contribute 80 percent of the country’s carpet exports. Out of about 1,500 carpet exporters, 800 are from this state and 560 of them are from Bhadohi alone. These carpet manufacturers are facing difficulties due to expensive raw materials, lack of weavers and competition from Türkiye, China and Belgium. Now 26 percent Trump Tariff has destroyed him. Traders are saying that people who have already placed orders are now asking for discounts, so orders will also be at a low price in future.
Premium market of silk industry
There is no pressure on Banarasi silk industry to compete with other countries, but they are also facing demand to reduce prices. The US is a large market for handmade products such as silk fabrics, bed covers, sofa back, wall hanging, dinner gown, jacket, scarf etc. Premium products go the most.
In 2023-24, the Banarasi silk will be more than half in the total cloth and apparel exports to the US. Even in the last financial year, Banarasi silk was a large part of the 7 billion dollars exported to the United States. But chaos has spread after Trump’s tariff, and silk exporters are not getting any new order since last month. Exporters say that there was a flood of orders from Europe and America around Easter, but this time it is not.