Union Minister of Textiles, Shri Giriraj Singh commenced his official visit to Tokyo, Japan on 14th July 2025 by paying floral tribute at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi, highlighting the enduring relevance of Gandhiji’s ideals of truth, non-violence, and compassion.
Shri Giriraj Singh visited the Embassy of India in Tokyo and chaired a briefing by Ambassador Shri Sibi George on India-Japan relations and opportunities in the textile sector. Following this, a strategic meeting was held with Mr. Tadashi Yanai, Chairman, President and CEO of Fast Retailing Co. Ltd., one of the world’s leading apparel retail companies. The discussion focused on expanding Fast Retailing’s sourcing, manufacturing, and retail operations in India. Shri Giriraj Singh also met the leadership team of Stylem Co. Ltd, leading textile trading and OEM Company, and invited them to scale up their engagement with India through PM MITRA Parks and other government initiatives. In a key engagement, Shri Giriraj Singh met with the Directors of Daiso Industries, who announced plans to open 200 stores and manufacture cotton products in India. The Minister encouraged them to leverage India’s textile infrastructure and incentives. The day concluded with Shri Giriraj Singh chairing an interactive roundtable with CEOs of major Japanese textile and apparel companies, encouraging investments in technical textiles, fibre production, and textile machinery. Ambassador Shri Sibi George delivered the inaugural remarks, and Shri Rohit Kansal, Additional Secretary,Textiles, presented key government policies and emerging opportunities in the sector.
Source: PIB
Issuance of preferential certificates of origin -- a document enabling exporters to claim tariff benefits under free trade pacts -- by India has risen significantly for various countries, including Korea, Malaysia, and Japan, in 2024-25, indicating increased advantage of such agreements for domestic exporters. The number of preferential certificates of origin issued under free trade agreements implemented so far has recorded a healthy increase, rising to 7,20,914 in 2024-25 from 6,84,724 in 2023-24. The number of preferential certificates of origin issued by India under free trade agreements (FTAs) with Korea and Japan rose to 54,644 and 47,809, respectively, in 2024-25 against 52,158 and 42,306, respectively, in 2023-24, according to the commerce ministry data. India has issued 4,664 such certificates in 2024-25 under the FTA with Malaysia, against 4,370 certificates in 2023-24. Similarly, India has issued 19,267 certificates under the trade pact with Sri Lanka in 2024-25 compared to 12,520 such documents in 2023-24. For Asean (Association of South east asian nations), the country has issued 1,79,965 certificates last fiscal as against 98,104 certificates in 2023-24. Asean members include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. For SAFTA (South Asia Free Trade Agreement), 67,562 certificates were issued last year against 58,269 certificates in 2023-24. These certificates are essential for Indian exporters to claim preferential tariff benefits under respective trade agreements, thereby enhancing the competitiveness of Indian goods in partner markets and facilitating smoother access to global value chains. In a free trade agreement, two countries either significantly reduce or eliminate import duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them. India has so far implemented over a dozen such agreements with countries, including Japan, Singapore, Korea, UAE and Australia. Increasing issuance of these documents also highlights the strengthening trade relationship between the FTA partners. Besides, it increases awareness among Indian exporters about the advantages of leveraging these agreements, an official said.
Source: Business Standard
It’s still far from clear what President Donald Trump’s tariffs will eventually look like. But the pressures they will put on stable trading relationships — even those that don’t directly involve the US — are already visible. Ties between India and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations are already fraying: They’re being pushed into different camps, and the free-trade agreement they signed in 2010 could become an unexpected victim of the turmoil. Trump might be the immediate cause of this rift, but, as always, China’s massive manufacturing overcapacity is at the heart of the problem. Even if no country knows what rates they or others will face, everyone can be reasonably certain that the mainland’s tariffs will be the highest of all. Unfortunately, this also means that there’s a big incentive to help Beijing game the system enough that we all trust each other less. Many Asian countries are reasonably pleased at the thought that duties on their exports will be lower than on those out of China: They’ve all been searching for a way to regain a sliver of competitiveness, and this might help. But the same nations are also a little scared. They fear a flood of underpriced Chinese goods, once meant for the US, will inundate their fledgling manufacturing sectors. In fact, that’s already happening to an extent, and policymakers are responding. Vietnam has introduced anti-dumping tariffs on certain kinds of Chinese steel; Indonesia has banned direct-shipping e-commerce apps like Temu. But, for some, there’s also the tempting possibility that China’s overcapacity can be turned from an enemy into an ally. Any country that remains integrated both with China and those that are putting up tariff walls could, if it wanted, become a location for the trans-shipment of goods. Instead of paying the higher China levies, importers would pay lower ones imposed on the third country — and share a bit of the take with local partners. Tariff arbitrage could become as profitable in the future as interest rate arbitrage is today. The more countries that impose anti-dumping duties on China, the more money the successful trans-shipper would make. The US, for one, is already very concerned that parts of Asean might take this route — which is why Trump’s trade deal with Vietnam included a clause that any goods suspected of being trans-shipped would pay double tariffs. For countries like India, it’s an even greater fear. India’s commerce minister caused a bit of a stir recently when he described Asean as “China’s B-team.” That was certainly impolitic. But, perhaps, not entirely unjustified. New Delhi has been trying to update its free trade agreement with Asean for a while. Its particular focus has been to tighten rules-of-origin requirements — the way in which you ensure that a free trade agreement only benefits local producers in both countries, not those shipping goods that originate elsewhere. Indian officials feel that Asean has been going slow on these discussions.
Source: The Economic Times
India can consider a plan to deal with the impact of the US tariffs only after assessing the full effect of these duties, scheduled to come into effect from August 1, and until then, the government will remain in a wait-andwatch mode, a senior official said on Tuesday. The official added that the Indian team is in Washington for the fifth round of negotiations on the proposed bilateraltrade agreement (BTA). "Any backup or plan has to be prepared after we know the full effect of US tariffs. Today on July 15, we are not in a position to guesstimate the differential tariff that is going to play out on August 1.
"We have got tariff numbers for about 25 countries....the US has announced that they are going to do trade deals in two weeks. So, what do these deals lead to, and what will be the final spectrum of tariffs that will be rolled out on August 1, without understanding that, it will be very difficult to plan for a contingency plan. So that is something we need to wait and watch," the official said. The government official was replying to a question whether India is preparing any backup plan to deal with the impact of Trump tariffs. In February, India and the US announced that the two countries would negotiate a BTA. The two have fixed a deadline to conclude the first phase of the pact by fall (September-October) of 2025. In March, both sides finalised the Terms of Reference (ToRs) of the agreement. After that, there were two rounds of discussions in April and June. Negotiators also met in early July. The fifth round of talks started on Monday. India's chief negotiator, Special Secretary Rajesh Agrawal will be joining the team on Wednesday. The talks are expected to continue till Thursday. These negotiations come in the midst of US President Donald Trump issuing letters to individual countries and economic blocs notifying them of the tariffs the US will impose on their shipments to America after August 1. While unilaterally imposing tariffs, the US has left the door open to negotiations for all the recipients. The US has sent letters to 24 countries and the European Union (EU). "We need not worry much. We should wait for it (US duties) to play out and as soon as it plays out, the government can come out with something to see what best needs to be done for the country," the official said. On whether India has a differential tariff advantage over other countries, the official said at present, there is a 10 per cent baseline tariff line across the world, except for China, which has an additional 40 per cent Fentanyl tariff. So that is the only differential, a country has today. China has got a higher tariff vis-a-vis others. In addition, there are sectoral tariffs on iron, steel (50 per cent) and auto components (25 per cent).
"If you look at tariffs today, other than China, there are only announcements of tariffs. So, relative positions have not changed much. Despite that India is doing well in exports," another official said, adding that whether the differential tariffs come into play from August, one does not know. "That is something we need to wait and watch. We are in the same boat as others," the official said.
Source: The Economic Times
India's goods exports to the US rose by 23.53 per cent to $8.3 billion in June while imports dipped by 10.61 per cent to about $4 billion during the month, according to the commerce ministry data. During April-June, the country's exports to the US increased by 22.18 per cent to $25.51 billion, while imports rose 11.68 per cent to $12.86 billion, the data showed.
The US was the largest trading partner of India in the April-June quarter of 2025-26.
India and the US are negotiating a bilateral trade agreement. The Indian team is in Washington for the fifth round of talks for the pact. China, another major trading partner of India, saw a 17.18 per cent jump in exports from India to $1.38 billion in June and a 17.87 per cent growth in April-June to $4.4 billion. Imports from the neighbouring country in June rose by 2.48 per cent to $9.51 billion while in the first quarter of 2025-26 by 16.33 per cent to $29.74 billion. Singapore, Germany, France, Brazil, and Korea were also among the countries which saw positive growth in exports from India during the month under review. However, exports to the UAE, the Netherlands, the UK, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Nepal, South Africa, Italy, Belgium and Malaysia declined in June. On the imports front, inbound shipments in June declined from nations including the UAE, Russia, Iraq, Germany, Malaysia, Switzerland, Australia, and Taiwan.
However, imports rose from Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and Thailand.
Source: Business Standard
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) - Tamil Nadu along with Tiruppur Exporters' Association (TEA) jointly convened a press meet on Tuesday in Tiruppur to announce the 'Tamil Nadu - Taiwan Technical Textile Partnership Summit that will be held in Coimbatore next week. It will bring together industry leaders, technical experts, policymakers and suppliers particularly from Taiwan to explore opportunities and drive innovation in MMF and technical textiles in Tamil Nadu. The two-day event will feature high-level impact B2B meetings & product showcase besides a series of Technical Session on Textile Processing. Kumar Duraiswamy, Joint Secretary, TEA while addressing the press and media, said that the Summit will be held at Le Meridien, Coimbatore on 21st of July whereas on 22nd, an exhibition of Ready-made Garments made from Man-Made Fibres will be showcased to the delegates in Tiruppur, besides which a discussion between the Taiwanese delegation and manufacturers & exporters will be held. Speaking about the importance of this event, Mr.Duraisamy said that the world is looking to reduce its dependency on China for textiles, and they are looking for other countries. India is their first preference. Post-Covid, Indian textile business is now seeing a bright opportunity and the trade climate is in India's favor. Recently India finalized a historic FTA with the UK. This move is poised to increase India's business with the UK by another 10-15%. In another 2 years, a similar agreement could be made with EU, works are going on for that. USA too has kept the tariffs low for India when compared with other countries. We may hear lot more good news in the first week of August.So the climate is favorable for India, Mr.Duraiswamy said. For India to increase its textile exports, it cannot just rely on cotton alone. Our cotton production is getting low. We are behind in the production of winter-wear and sportswear. TEA's founder president Mr.Sakthivel has been emphasizing for the last 6-7 years that all Tiruppur-based Textile companies should considering entering into MMF-based textile manufacturing, and out of their total production, 20% should be MMF. Taiwan has invested lot in Tamil Nadu. They have made a huge investment in non-leather footwear in Dec.2024. iPhone manufacturer Foxconn is also from Taiwan, and that company too has made good invesments in the State. "We are expecting similar investments from Taiwan in TN Textiles," he said. Taiwan is known for its excellent research in MMF garment manufacturing, and they are in a very strong position in the world today. If they begin business in Tamil Nadu and establish factories here, the trade opportunities will rise and that could be utilized well by us. Hence we are inviting the local textile exporters, manufacturers, dyeing, printing, knitting units owners to attend this summit and get benefitted. G.R.Gopikumar, Convener, Textile Panel, CII -Tamil Nadu who spoke next said that Taiwan is very keen to have a business relationship with Tamil Nadu among other states in India. This was visible when it made a good investment in footwear and electronics sectors in Tamil Nadu. So we thought why not we can have their expert guidance to make our textiles sector thrive. CII, TEA and the government are closely interacting with Taiwan in this regard, he said. Gopikumar shared that Taiwan Textile Research Institute (TTRI) an entity funded by the industry and government has significantly helped the Taiwan Textile Industry by creating new and innovative products. Works are going on to forge alliance with TTRI that will benefit Tamil Nadu textile-scape. Taiwan is the world's no.1 in Sportswear and outdoor fabrics. They have the largest market share and the world's buyers' major sourcing happens out of Taiwan, Indonesia, Cambodia. India's garment exports stand at 15 billion USD. The govt aims to take textile exports to 100 billion USD. But to achieve that kind of figures, we need lot of guidance from experts in this sector like Taiwan. So during this 2-day event there will tons of technical presentation about the kinds of MMF processing infra (technology and machineries) that is needed here, Gopikumar said and welcomed the textile community to get benefitted through this summit.
Source: Covai Chronicle
US President Donald Trump has announced a landmark trade agreement with Indonesia that will see all Indonesian exports to the US subject to a 19 per cent tariff—replacing the 32 per cent rate he had threatened to impose from August 1. The deal followed direct negotiations with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto. Under the agreement, Indonesia will purchase $15 billion in US energy products, $4.5 billion in agricultural goods, and 50 Boeing aircraft, including several 777 jets. In return, US exporters will enjoy full tariff- and barrier-free access to the Indonesian market, a first in the two countries’ trade history, Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday. Trump said the 19 per cent tariff on Indonesian goods would help correct the trade imbalance and ensure fairer terms. He also warned that any transshipments from higher-tariff countries routed through Indonesia would attract additional duties. “This landmark Deal opens up Indonesia’s ENTIRE MARKET to the United States,” Trump declared, celebrating what he called a breakthrough for US ranchers, farmers, and fishermen gaining access to a consumer base of over 280 million people. The announcement follows recent trade pacts Trump has brokered with Vietnam, the UK, and China.
Source: Fibre2fashion
Taipei, July 16 (CNA) Taiwan-based textile companies Eclat Textile Co. and Makalot Industrial Co., which produce more than 80 percent of their goods in Vietnam and Indonesia, said they are somewhat relieved by the latest tariff rates imposed by the United States on the two countries. On Tuesday, the Trump administration announced it had reached a deal to impose 19 percent tariffs on Indonesia-made products, down from the 32 percent it threatened in early April. That come after the United States reached an agreement with Vietnam in early July to impose a 20 percent tariff on goods from that country, down from the threatened 46 percent. Both Eclat and Makalot said tariffs in the 19 percent to 20 percent range were acceptable levels and that the increased costs were not gamechangers. Tiffany Lin, Eclat's vice president of finance and accounting, told CNA that the tariff issues were evolving in a "positive" direction and that Eclat would negotiate pricing with its clients based on the new tariffs. According to the company, which is believed to produce garments for international brands such as Nike, Under Armour and Lululemon Athletica, Vietnam accounts for up to 65 percent of its total production and Indonesia for another 25 percent. There had been speculation that Eclat was putting off new investments in Indonesia due to the very high tariff announced originally, but Lin said that Eclat's overseas investments were proceeding as planned and were necessary for its expansion. At the end of June, the company announced it would inject US$41 million in a rights issue proposed by its Indonesian subsidiary Eclat Textile International, paving the way for construction of a third facility in Indonesia, Lin said. Makalot, meanwhile, gets 42 percent of its total production from Indonesia and 38 percent from Vietnam, according to company spokesperson Hengyu Lin.With the two countries striking a deal with the United States, worries in my heart have been reduced by half," Hengyu Lin said. Hengyu Lin said Makalot will wait for the outcome of tariff negotiations with other U.S. trading partners to be finalized before the company discusses with its clients how to share the financial burden of the tariff hikes. Outside the textile industry, Teco Electric & Machinery Co., one of Taiwan's leading electromechanical brands, also hailed the tariff arrangement for Indonesia, where the company produces power transformers. Demand for power transformers from the U.S. has remained solid, Teco said, and the lower tariff rate for Indonesia will make products rolled out by its Indonesia facility more competitive in the American market. According to Teco, the cost structure of its power transformer facility in Indonesia is lower than that of counterparts in Taiwan, Japan and South Korea. In late September 2024, Teco acquired a 57.2 percent stake in Taiwan-based power transformer maker Shenchang Electric Co. After the acquisition, Teco said, the company has set up a strategic partnership with Shenchang's Indonesian affiliate P.T. Sintra to expand its product portfolio in the Southeast Asian country with an eye toward North America and Taiwan.
Source: Focus Taiwan
The first round of negotiations on an enhanced Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between UK and Turkiye took place in Ankara between June 23 and July 2, 2025, marking a significant step in strengthening the already robust economic ties between the two nations, which recorded bilateral trade worth approximately £28 billion (~$37.8 billion) in 2024.
Turkiye, home to a growing market of 86 million people, ranks as the UK’s 16th largest trading partner. Trade between the two countries supported around 57,100 UK jobs in 2020. The UK government has identified economic growth as a top priority and sees FTAs as a key lever to achieving this objective, the UK’s Department for Business and Trade said in a press statement. “The economic growth is our first mission in government and FTAs have an important role to play in achieving this. The UK is the second largest services exporter in the world, but in 2024 only 34 per cent of UK exports to Turkiye were services. A stronger trade relationship with this fast-growing economy will unlock new opportunities for UK businesses and contribute to jobs and prosperity in the UK,” the statement added. The negotiations during round one were constructive, with both countries working towards agreeing ambitious outcomes in key areas. Discussions covered sustainability and collaboration, including Women’s Economic Empowerment and Labour rights, as well as the regulatory environments of both countries. Productive discussions were also held on trade in services, including digital, financial and professional business services, it further stated. The UK’s current FTA with Turkiye mirrors the EU-Turkiye Customs Union, with full liberalisation of industrial goods and partial liberalisation of agricultural products. In the first round of negotiations, both parties focused on setting baselines and outlining their respective goals for trade in goods. The government will only ever sign a trade agreement which aligns with the UK’s national interests, upholding their high standards across a range of sectors, alongside protections for the National Health Service, it said. The second round of negotiations is expected to take place in the Autumn of 2025.
Source: FIbre2fashion
The US remained the largest export market, with turnover of 8.77 billion USD, up 17.1%. The EU followed with 2.36 billion USD, up 12% year-on-year, and Japan came next with 2.24 billion USD and 3.2%. These results were the outcomes of the tremendous efforts of enterprises amid volatile market conditions, especially geopolitical instability and escalating conflicts in various regions that disrupted supply chains and increased transportation costs. Vietnamese textile and garment products have been exported to 132 countries and territories. Currently, enterprises have secured orders through to September and are negotiating for the year-end season. They are also ready to mobilise all resources for accelerate production campaigns, meet delivery deadlines, and capitalise on tariff incentives, thereby maximising profits and building reserves for future production needs. With growth exceeding 10% so far, textile and garment export turnover in July is forecast to achieve a breakthrough in export share, forming an important foundation for the sector to realise its export turnover target of 46-47 billion USD in 2025.
Source: Vietnam News
