14/02/2026
18% Tariff vs 0% – Let me explain how the Prime Minister, who is a master at lying, and his cabinet are spreading confusion on this. And how they are cheating the country’s cotton farmers and textile exporters through the India-US trade deal.
Bangladesh is being given 0% tariff benefit on garment exports to the United States – the only condition is that they import American cotton.
After the announcement of 18% tariff on Indian garments, when I raised the issue in Parliament about the special concession being given to Bangladesh, the Modi government minister’s reply was: “If we also want this benefit, then we will have to import cotton from America.”
So why was this fact hidden from the country until now?
And what kind of policy is this? Is this really a choice – or a trap that leaves us stuck between a rock and a hard place?
If we import American cotton, our own farmers will be ruined. If we don’t, our textile industry will fall behind and be destroyed.
And now Bangladesh is signalling that it may reduce or even stop importing cotton from India as well.
In India, the textile industry and cotton farming are the backbone of livelihoods. The daily bread and butter of crores of people depend on these sectors. Hitting them means pushing millions of families into the pit of unemployment and economic crisis.
A far-sighted government that thinks in the national interest would have struck a deal that protected and ensured the prosperity of both cotton farmers and textile exporters.
But Narendra “Surrender” Modi and his ministers have done the exact opposite – they have struck a deal that could inflict deep, lasting damage on both sectors.
🇮🇳 Rahul Gandhi
