Their message, according to at least a half-dozen exporters, was that the US was unlikely to single out India again for buying Russian oil, as it had done in August last year.
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“For several weeks now, our buyers have been reassuring us and urging us to step up shipments for the winter season. With the waiver, tariff uncertainties are over, at least for the coming festive season, when Americans typically spend more,” said R Gopalakrishnan, chairman of Royal Classic Mills and one of Tiruppur’s leading knitwear exporters to the US.
However, the relief has not altered his company’s longer-term strategy.
“The punitive tariffs last year taught us one lesson: we must not put all our eggs in one basket,” he said.
US still biggest market
“Our exposure to the US market has fallen from 85% to 40% in just 15 months, and we have no plans to reverse that strategy yet,” said Gopalakrishnan.Two other textile exporters, who requested anonymity, echoed similar sentiments.
Gopalakrishnan added, though, that despite the diversification, the US is still the firm’s largest market, followed by Australia, Canada, the EU and the UK.
Colin Shah, managing director of Kama Jewelry and former chairman of the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council, said one of the most significant fallouts of last year’s high US tariffs across sectors has been a concerted push to diversify into other markets.
“Yet, America continues to be our strongest export market, and demand for Christmas this year has been very good,” he said.
Shah said neither US buyers nor Indian exporters expected another bout of tariff trouble.
“However, with the new waiver order on Friday night, the tariff uncertainties, if any, are over for the next few months, a crucial period for shipments,” he said, noting that Christmas-related exports usually continue until December 15.
He also pointed to the resilience of the gems and jewellery industry, which has seen a spate of disruptions, right from demonetisation and the Russia-Ukraine war to the industry’s own upheaval caused by the rapid growth of lab-grown diamonds.
Through all these shocks, he said, one factor has remained remarkably constant: consumer demand for jewellery.
Sathish Gandhi, a wig exporter and director of Chennai-based Allure Hair Products, said: “US buyers have been telling us that American consumers were among the biggest losers of Washington’s high-tariff regime last year. High tariff or low, US customers still have to rely on India for natural, high-quality human hair.”
Finished products such as wigs, wefts, frontals and extensions account for a fraction of India’s overall hair exports, added Gandhi.