India is expected to press the United States to waive the 18% reciprocal tariff on garments manufactured using American cotton and exported to the US, in a move similar to concessions recently extended to Bangladesh.
Representatives of textile export promotion councils who attended a meeting on 11th February 2026, indicated that the government was likely to pursue discussions with Washington to secure relief from the reciprocal tariff for garments and textile products made with US-origin cotton or man-made fibre.
Under the US–Bangladesh Agreement on Reciprocal Trade, signed on 9th February, the United States agreed to establish a mechanism allowing specified volumes of textile and apparel exports from Bangladesh to enter the US market at a zero reciprocal tariff rate, provided they are produced using cotton and man-made fibre textile inputs sourced from the United States.
Industry representatives said the development had prompted concerns within India’s textile and apparel sector, but these had been addressed during consultations with the government.
A. Sakthivel, Chairman of the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), stated that the US–Bangladesh agreement was not a cause for concern for the Indian textile and apparel industry. He said the government had reassured stakeholders and indicated that India would pursue a similar proposal with the United States.
India currently imports around five lakh bales of American cotton annually, including approximately 2.5 lakh bales of non-Extra Long Staple (ELS) varieties. Industry observers believe that a tariff waiver tied to the use of US inputs could help maintain the competitiveness of Indian garment exports in the American market, which remains one of India’s largest textile export destinations.
