The India-US trade agreement is expected to play a pivotal role in India achieving its intended target of $100 billion textiles exports in 2030, the government said on Saturday.

The deal is expected to provide the requisite momentum, with the US to contribute to more than one-fifth of this target, according to Ministry of Textiles.

The ministry welcomed the landmark agreement between India and the US as a major catalyst enhancing the textile trade relations between the nations.

The textile industry expressed the hope that this is a major economic game changer for the sector.

For textiles exports, the deal opens up a $118 billion US global imports market of textiles, apparels and made ups. With the US being India’s largest export destination of around $10.5 billion exports, comprising around 70 per cent apparel and 15 per cent made ups, this is a major opportunity.

The 18 per cent reciprocal tariffs on all the textiles products including apparel and made-ups will not only remove the disadvantage that Indian exporters had, but would place them in a better position than most competitors like Bangladesh (20 per cent), China (30 per cent), Pakistan (19 per cent) and Vietnam (20 per cent) who have higher reciprocal tariffs.

“This would alter the market dynamics as large buyers would surely relook at their sourcing in the light of this agreement,” said the ministry.

The agreement would also enable the industry to be cost competitive and diversify their risks by sourcing intermediates for the textiles sector from the US.

This would facilitate manufacturing of value-added textiles in the country and diversify our production and exports. The deal would generate additional employment and encourage investments by US entities, said the ministry.

The US trade agreement framework represents a historic milestone for India’s textiles and apparel sector.