When Donald Trump was elected, Indian garment exporter R.K. Sivasubramaniam thought the new US president would boost business and invested heavily in anticipation of a boom.

But less than a year later, everything is “upside down”, he admits with a pained smile.

Trump’s 50 percent tariffs on Indian goods, imposed in August, have upset the country’s $11 billion textile export industry and shaken confidence in the US market.

Sivasubramaniam’s Raft Garments factory in southern India, normally frenetic with humming sewing machines, is quieter and work hours have been cut, hitting employees’ paypackets.

If his US buyers turn to other suppliers, half his business could vanish.

Meanwhile, half a million garments sit in towering stacks, ready for shipment but stalled over who will pay the new

See Full Page