Uncertainty and US tariffs come to the fore.
The recent four-day Heimtextil trade show in Frankfurt, Germany – this is the world’s biggest home-textile trade show, attracting some 3000 exhibitors from 60 countries – showcased latest products, designs and technological innovations while also giving exhibitors the opportunity to discuss the current import tariffs, particularly in the US, which impact world supply chains.
Major textile suppliers such as China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam and others that rely on the US market were affected by the Trump administration’s tariffs.
India has, meanwhile, reached a framework understanding with the Trump administration, viewed as a prelude to formalizing a trade agreement with the U.S., which has agreed to reduce its combined tariff rate of 50%, including the 25% punitive tariffs because of India’s Russian oil purchases, down to 18%. Indian commerce minister Piyush Goyal told journalists in India that a US-India trade agreement “should be finalized soon, possibly, in March”.
Many exhibitors at the Heimtextil show told the American Journal of Transportation that the US textile and apparel imports experienced a “significant, volatile shift” during the first half of 2025 recording early-year 5.8% rise in global imports because, as A.R. Swami, an Indian handloom textile exporter explained, “international suppliers had rushed then to make shipments to the US before tariffs became effective”.
International Suppliers Face Tariff Uncertainties
Santhosh Velayudhan, the managing director of Extraweavers Private Ltd., based in Kerala, India, which supplies floor-coverings, furnishing products, etc. said in an interview that he was diversifying his exports to South American markets, Australia, New Zealand and Africa to offset some of the tariff-related losses in the US market.
“The US market absorbed some 30% of our exports … this share has dropped to 20% following the tariffs. We even offered a 5% reduction in export prices to our U.S. buyers and yet our market share has dropped. The UK is now our major market accounting for some 40% of our exports after India’s signed a free trade agreement with that country,” Velayudhan said.
Prakash Bhojwani, managing director of Chandra Mats Private Ltd., of Aurangabad, India, which showcased its polypropylene mats, etc., said that his company’s major market was the US, though he was also increasingly exporting to the Scandinavia market.
“We have taken a big hit in the US market because of the tariffs, even though our products are cheaper than those supplied by China and other countries,” Bhojwani said.
Taha Karabacak, the sales director of Turkish company Aydin Rugs, based in Istanbul, which manufactures a range of upholstery and floor-furnishing products, including prayer mats, claimed his company was the biggest manufacturer of prayer mats, woven velvets, etc., with an annual production capacity of 50 million meters and about $100 million turnover.
“Exports account for 60% and domestic sales for 40% of our turnover. Besides the US, we also ship to Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Germany, Africa, etc.” Karabacak said.
In the US, Aydin supplies to wholesalers and big stores. “2025 was a tough year for the textile and furnishing industry … and this was not just because of the US 15% tariffs on Turkish products, but also because of high costs in many countries,” Karabacak said.
Floor Furnishing’s also Hit
Oriental Weavers of Cairo, Egypt, which is rated as one of the world’s leading suppliers of floor furnishings, including rugs, carpets, etc., has a production capacity of 70 million sq meters.
“40% of our sales are domestic while 60% are exported to foreign markets. We are the biggest supplier to Ikea chain stores worldwide. We ship to 133 countries, but the US is our biggest market. Egyptian products face 10% tariffs which did initially affect our exports to the US but after the initial challenging phase, our exports picked up in June/July,” said Mohamed Salah, who looks after the company’s commercial product development for the international markets.
Major markets of Gohar Textile, Faisalabad, Pakistan, which manufactures bed requisites, including bed sheets, and other home-textile products, are Australia, Europe, US, and Latin America, with a $150 million turnover in 2025, according to Aftab Gauhar, the company’s director, who said that exports to the US had slightly declined. “Tariffs have affected the exports of many Pakistani textile exporters to the US although we have seen a good international response at the Heimtextil show,” he added.
Tariffs have affected China’s textile exports to the US Sun Pei Ning, the deputy director (exhibitions department) at China’s Sub-Council of Textile Industry (CCPIT), told AJOT that the year 2025 was marked by heightened unpredictability, a complex landscape of slower global economic growth, and rising unilateralism and protectionism. China’s textile and apparel industry “pressed forward against the headwinds, demonstrating resilience and vitality”, she said.
“China is also turning its attention to China’s domestic market which is promising,” Sun added, besides looking at opportunities in neighboring countries like India.
According to preliminary data from the General Administration of Customs of China, the country’s total 2025 textile and apparel exports amounted to $293.77 billion, down 2.4 % year-on-year. Within this total, textile exports rose 0.5 % to US $142.58 billion, while apparel exports declined 5.0 % to $151.18 billion.
Meanwhile, according to an announcement on Feb. 9, the Trump administration will reduce tariffs on Bangladesh goods, including textiles and apparel.
Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammed Yunus said in a recent post that Trump will reduce the overall reciprocal tariffs to 19% on Bangladesh products, after already reducing them from 27% to 20% last year. The deal also includes a mechanism allowing full exemption to certain products such as “certain textile and apparel goods from Bangladesh using US-produced cotton and man-made fiber”.
Olaf Schmidt, senior vice president (textiles and textile technologies) of Messe Frankfurt GmbH, which organized the Heimtextil show, noted in an interview that the show had highlighted all the issues currently of significance to the textile trade, including AI and micro-technologies. Tariffs also, inevitably, cropped up in conversations between buyers and sellers.
“Tariffs are, of course, of concern to international suppliers but nobody can predict how they would evolve in the future. It is not easy to give an answer. Nevertheless, despite the tariff question that weighed on some exhibitors, the overall mood was one of optimism because of the positive response from potential buyers,” he said.
Textile Machinery Exporters Also Hit by Declining Orders
Other business sectors that cater to the textile trade and industry have also felt the impact of tariffs which have affected, for instance, the business of textile machinery exporters whose products are used by textile manufacturers in several countries. Elgar Straub, Munich-based managing director of the Association of German Machinery and Equipment Manufacturers, observed in an interview at Frankfurt’s Heimtextil show that the association’s member companies supply all kinds of machinery and equipment, including for production and processing of textiles.
“Customers in India, for instance, have slowed down their machinery imports. European Union (EU) has entered into an FTA with the MERCOSUR states, and this should help our industry. Export markets and supply chains face unpredictability. I am happy that the EU has ironed out an FTA with India which is very important for the EU,” Straub said, adding that the German machinery exporters had experienced a 14% decline in the first 11 months of 2025. “Many of our members, who export textile machinery to the US, face uncertainty,” he said.
