Rahul warns of job losses as US tariffs hit textile exporters
Visits garment factory in Haryana
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused the Narendra Modi-led government of failing to protect India’s textile and garment industry from the impact of steep US tariffs, warning that millions of jobs and businesses faced uncertainty as export conditions worsened.
Gandhi said India’s textile sector, the country’s second-largest employer, was under severe pressure due to a combination of factors, including a 50 per cent tariff imposed by the United States, falling prices in European markets and intensifying competition from countries such as Bangladesh and China.
In a statement following his visit to a garment export factory in Haryana, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha said the situation on the ground reflected fear and instability across the sector, with factories shutting down, procurement slowing and employment prospects shrinking.
India’s textiles are admired globally and the craftsmanship of Indian tailors is unmatched, Gandhi said, but added that exporters were being “squeezed from all sides” due to unfavourable trade conditions and the absence of government intervention.
He said the direct impact of the tariff shock was already visible in the form of job losses and reduced operations across manufacturing units, warning that the crisis could deepen if corrective steps were not taken urgently.
Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gandhi said that the government had neither offered relief nor addressed the issue publicly, despite the scale of employment at risk. He said over 4.5 crore jobs and lakhs of businesses linked to the textile and garment value chain could be affected if the situation continued to deteriorate.
Gandhi stressed that securing a trade agreement with the United States that prioritises Indian workers and businesses was now imperative. He said that India could not afford a weak negotiating position on trade, particularly when labour-intensive sectors such as textiles were under threat.
He further alleged that the Prime Minister’s failure to act decisively on the tariff issue was harming the broader economy and weakening India’s export competitiveness at a time when global demand remained volatile.
