US tariff hike: Parliamentary standing committee interacts with industrialists in Coimbatore, Tirupur

COIMBATORE: A parliamentary standing committee comprising 16 MPs, led by Dola Sen, interacted with the industrialists of Coimbatore and Tirupur on Thursday to know how the 50% hike in the US tariffs on Indian goods has affected them.

The committee, which had visited key industrial hubs like Visakhapatnam and Chennai since Jan 6, arrived in Coimbatore on Thursday to interact with industry stakeholders and record their feedback.




While addressing the reporters at the Coimbatore International Airport in the morning, Dola Sen said the team had been assigned to assess the trade relations between India and the United States. She said, “The main objective is to know the extent of damage caused by the tariff hike and understand other economic challenges. The parliamentary team interacted with the automobile and leather industries in Chennai and now will focus on the textile industry.”

Later, the team held a consultation meeting with industry representatives. The meeting at a private hotel in Neelambur discussed the impact of the slowdown in exports, new trade agreements and the difficulties in fulfilling existing orders.

During the interaction, Apparel Export Promotion Council chairman Dr A Sakthivel highlighted the ground realities faced by the Indian apparel industry due to the imposition of a higher tariff by the United States and its disastrous impact on the entire apparel exports to the US due to huge tariff differential with the competing countries.

He explained that Indian apparel exporters were compelled to offer substantial discounts, even at the cost of suffering losses, to sustain long-standing trade relationships and retain buyers. If the current tariff regime continues and the government announces no relief package, it is likely to result in significant job losses, according to him.